Last session to test all the innovations brought to the track and find the right set up in view of the qualifying Miami Grand Prix which will start at 22:00 Italian time. The new asphalt is a challenge for everyone. Compared to the forecasts, almost all the teams have decided to focus more on the simulation of qualifying. The reason? probably also linked to the nature of the route, with the reduction of DRS zones. So let's see what happened in the FP3 disputed with an asphalt temperature of about 50°.
Ferrari is studying the race pace
Yesterday we broke up with one Ferrari looking for more encouraging data on race pace and in particular on degradation. The Maranello team brought the first updates to this American round by introducing a new one fondo. A specification that has helped the Ducati find more traction and more downforce, especially on the slowest stretch. Charles's accident at the end of FP2 he stopped working on the race pace simulation. Not that this affected the result much. Right from the start, the first data collected on the race pace were not as positive as those on the flying lap.
Situation that remains unchanged even today, with a Charles Leclerc in trouble with the red tyres. The performance of the Monegasque after a few laps collapsed dramatically. On the other hand, Sainz's performance is more constant, which confirms what we saw yesterday.
Mercedes with two faces
At Mercedes, it was decided to get back on track for the last free practice session with two different set-ups on the single-seaters of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. A job aimed at monitoring the evolution of the track and consequently the road to follow for the rest of the weekend. The session of the two silver arrow riders was not particularly satisfactory. Only Russell manages to enter the Top 10. Hamilton 13th.
Red Bull is Max-Sergio challenge
The two pass only 6 points in the championship. Baku, thanks to the two victories, has given greater confidence to Sergio Perez who didn't dedicate himself much to the flying lap, perhaps his weakest point, and which counts for a lot here. After a few exchanges between Verstappen and Perez, time stopped on the chrono of the Austrian team's number 1 driver. Qualifying will be particularly important, but the Mexican will have to recover those 6 tenths that separate him from his teammate.
5 minutes from the end of the session, the top 5 is made up of Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Ocon and Gasly. Leclerc instead stopped in eighth position.
McLaren struggled respectively 17th and 18th with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and AlphaTauri 19th and 20th with Tsunoda who suffered particularly from understeer. Difficult session also for Logan Sargeant, the favorite of the house, who accused a bad balance.
On the other hand, Valtteri Bottas had a good session, finishing in seventh position, immediately behind Alpine. The team seems satisfied with the behavior of the single-seater in these conditions and with the reds, as highlighted by the new Team Principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi when asked by Sky Sport F1: "We have a good balance for now, we have used two new Softs, against others who have only used one".
At the end of the session, the top 5 sees Charles Leclerc again among the top positions, second about 4 tenths from Max Verstappen's super time of 1:27.535. Third Perez, followed by Carlos Sainz, and Esteban Ocon. Many drivers who didn't improve during the session, including the two Aston Martins, who were also struggling with a difficult balance.
Here are all the times from FP3
We just have to wait for the qualifications which will start at 22:00!
