“F1: Bottas heads Saturday morning running”

Valtteri Bottas topped a drying third free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps this morning.

The Williams man jumped to the top thanks to a late run that propelled him ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

It had been a mostly quiet session, with cars rolling onto the circuit in just the final third of the session, as the sun emerged, creating dry patches along the damp Belgian track.

Bottas’ best – a 1:49.465s – was almost three-tenths quicker than the Renault-powered Red Bull man; however considering the changing conditions of the circuit, it is still unknown just how representative this time may be.

Ricciardo’s 2nd place also came right at the death, while Rosberg’s time (1:49.739) came just moments before Bottas claimed his practice prize. Ferrari man Kimi Raikkonen assumed 4th in the order, with the Finn appearing far more comfortable today than he did at this point on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton – who took 5th in his Mercedes works machine – secured the fastest middle section by a long way on his final lap – an example of what the silver car still had in store.

There was little else of interest in the session. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) quietly ran to 6th, while Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Jenson Button (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Williams) and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) filled out the top ten.
Reigning world champions Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) could do better than 13th, as he fights to make up for losing yesterday’s second practice session. The German has reverted to the engine used in Hungary.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix (Rd 12, Free Practice 3)
Pos Driver               Team                Time / Gap
 1. Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Mercedes     1:49.465
 2. Daniel Ricciardo     Red Bull-Renault      1:49.733
 3. Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1:49.739
 4. Kimi Raikkonen       Ferrari               1:49.817
 5. Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1:49.817
 6. Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1:49.890
 7. Daniil Kvyat         Toro Rosso-Renault    1:49.893
 8. Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1:50.203
 9. Felipe Massa         Williams-Mercedes     1:50.423
10. Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Renault    1:50.535
11. Sergio Perez         Force India-Mercedes  1:50.592
12. Kevin Magnussen      McLaren-Mercedes      1:50.748
13. Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1:50.814
14. Nico Hulkenberg      Force India-Mercedes  1:50.866
15. Adrian Sutil         Sauber-Ferrari        1:50.962
16. Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1:51.509
17. Pastor Maldonado     Lotus-Renault         1:51.610
18. Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1:51.898
19. Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Ferrari      1:52.457
20. Max Chilton          Marussia-Ferrari      1:52.984
21. Marcus Ericsson      Caterham-Renault      1:54.294
22. André Lotterer       Caterham-Renault      1:55.008

Leave a Reply