Spa, FP3: Hamilton on top in final practice for Belgian Grand Prix

Ocon 2nd, Vettel... last!

By Franck Drui

29 August 2020 - 13:02
Spa, FP3: Hamilton on top in final (...)

Lewis Hamilton took top spot in the final practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, with the championship leader finishing two tenths of a second ahead of Renault’s Esteban Ocon. Lando Norris was third for McLaren.

With light drizzle dampening the track there was little running in the opening portion of the hour, with just Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean testing the conditions as they attempted to make up for time lost yesterday due to engine issues with their cars.

When they returned to the pit lane a long lull followed as light rain continued to at several points around the 7km circuit.

The action resumed after the half way point had been reached with Norris and Albon initially leading the way on yellow tyres. Hamilton then took P1 with a lap of 1m44.422 set on softs, before the at was eclipsed by Bottas who posted a time of 1m43.813s. Verstappen then split the Mercedes duo with his first lap of the morning, alson on soft compound tyres.

The field then returned to the pit lane ahead of the qualifying but when they did take to the track the results were inconclusive as errors and traffic upset the order.

Ocon set the standard with a lap of 1:43.485s but Hamilton then edged ahead with his best time of 1:43.255. Bottas and Verstappen failed to improve in the final runs, with the Mercedes drivers sliding wide on the exit of La Source and Verstappen caught in a train of slow cars as driver backed each other up on the run to the Bus Stop chicane as they looked for clear air ahead of flying laps.

Norris took third place with a lap of 1:43.641, while Albon finished a little under a tenth of second further back in fourth. Bottas ended the session in fifth place ahead of Verstappen and the second Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Eighth place went to Racing Point’s Lance Stroll who finished ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and the second Racing Point of Sergio Perez.

It was another disappointing outing for Ferrari, however. Charles Leclerc finished in 17th place, 1.8s behind Hamilton, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished in last place.

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W11 1:43.255 9
02 Esteban Ocon Renault RS20 1:43.485 9
03 Lando Norris McLaren Renault MCL35 1:43.641 12
04 Alex Albon Red Bull Honda RB16 1:43.731 13
05 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes W11 1:43.813 9
06 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RB16 1:43.896 10
07 Daniel Ricciardo Renault RS20 1:43.973 8
08 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes RP20 1:43.988 12
09 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault MCL35 1:44.006 13
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point Mercedes RP20 1:44.180 12
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Honda AT01 1:44.508 14
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri Honda AT01 1:44.543 14
13 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes FW43 1:44.771 11
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-20 1:44.841 10
15 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari VF-20 1:44.844 16
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Ferrari C39 1:44.932 11
17 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF1000 1:45.147 12
18 George Russell Williams Mercedes FW43 1:45.157 11
19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari C39 1:45.190 13
20 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF1000 1:45.420 12

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