Bottas Not Feeling it Today! Verstappen is Back For More! (Emilia Romagna GP FP3 Report)

The last practice session before we go green for qualifying at Imola is done and Max Verstappen was setting the pace in the morning. After exceeding track limits earlier on in the one hour practice, the dutchman was able to come across the line with a 1.14.958, nearly 5 tenths quicker than the closest competitor, Lando Norris. The McLaren driver did an amazing job putting his car up in second, 7 tenths quicker than his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.

Mercedes did not look very confident in the morning session, their main man Lewis Hamilton finished the session in third. While the man who topped the Friday sessions, Valterri Bottas, finished in a measly eighth position, half a second separating him and the reigning champion. The German team now on the back foot going into qualifying this afternoon.

A team that must be happy with their results so far this season is Ferrari. The Italian team managed to put their cars into fifth and seventh. This time it was Charles Leclerc who finished ahead of Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver just finishing ahead of Bottas as they both set identical lap times.

Many drivers have been caught out by Imola’s gravel traps this weekend, and two drivers were added to this list of victims today. Nicholas Latifi got a snap of oversteer coming out of Turns 5 & 6. The Canadian did bring out a red flag which was quickly overruled as he was able to start the car back up and drive to the pits. The second man who took the gravel was home hero Antonio Giovinazzi, who lost the rear end through Tamburello. He finished in eighteenth, just ahead of the very experienced Kimi Raikkonen.

With qualifying underway in just a few hours, it is between the Red Bulls’ and the Mercedes’ to snatch Pole Position for the race tomorrow.