Sergio Perez remained on top in the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix, lapping the Circuit of the Americas in 1’34.701.
However Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both set quicker lap times which were deleted due to track limits violations. Hamilton set a 1’34.458 and Verstappen a 1’34.383.Verstappen was once again frustrated by traffic, coming up behind Antonio Giovinazzi on a slow lap and losing another potential lap time, after the one he had deleted for track limit violations.
As in Friday’s sessions, drivers favoured soft tyre sets, reserving medium and hard tyres for the race tomorrow. The only drivers to use the harder rubber were Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly, who both initially went out on medium compound tyres. Vettel, who will start from the back of the grid due to a power unit change penalty, made an additional two runs on the yellow-walled tyres, saving his soft run for the end of the session.
Red Bull led the first half-hour of the session, Verstappen having the edge on Perez. Mercedes made a low-key start to proceedings, Valtteri Bottas staying in the garage for much of the first 40 minutes.
Both Bottas and George Russell had spins on-track, Bottas coming off the kerb at the exit of turn six and flatspotting his tyres. Russell had a more dramatic spin, although managed not to make contact with barriers or other cars on his way across the track at turn five.
Ferrari looked quick during the early part of the session but slipped down the order towards the end. Carlos Sainz Jnr set his best time in the final quarter of an hour of the session, when drivers committed to their last performance runs. He split the Red Bulls times, initially going fastest of all until Perez was able to reclaim the spot.
Having lagged behind his team mate early as McLaren had looked somewhat adrift of Ferrari, Lando Norris had a very strong final run. Norris was the only one of the two McLaren drivers to beat the Mercedes pair, Ricciardo ending up seventh-fastest.
Pierre Gasly had another frustrating session, off the pace until the final runs but the AlphaTauri driver was still able to beat one Ferrari, Charles Leclerc finishing the session ninth. Esteban Ocon completed the top 10, team mate Fernando Alonso well off the pace in seventeenth.
Alonso faces a grid penalty after becoming the latest driver to exceed the maximum allocation of power unit parts. Alpine has renewed every element of his Renault power unit, including the exhaust. He joins Bottas, Vettel and Russell in taking power unit-related grid penalties.
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2021 United States Grand Prix third practice result
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.701 | 13 | |
2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’34.805 | 0.104 | 16 |
3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.912 | 0.211 | 13 |
4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’34.945 | 0.244 | 13 |
5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.988 | 0.287 | 15 |
6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’35.219 | 0.518 | 16 |
7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’35.345 | 0.644 | 11 |
8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’35.398 | 0.697 | 17 |
9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’35.688 | 0.987 | 17 |
10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’35.711 | 1.010 | 10 |
11 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’35.851 | 1.150 | 18 |
12 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.023 | 1.322 | 9 |
13 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’36.062 | 1.361 | 20 |
14 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.118 | 1.417 | 8 |
15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’36.252 | 1.551 | 16 |
16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’36.392 | 1.691 | 13 |
17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1’36.490 | 1.789 | 12 |
18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’36.572 | 1.871 | 16 |
19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1’36.671 | 1.970 | 15 |
20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 2’03.456 | 28.755 | 15 |
Third practice visual gaps
Sergio Perez – 1’34.701
+0.104 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’34.805
+0.211 Max Verstappen – 1’34.912
+0.244 Lando Norris – 1’34.945
+0.287 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.988
+0.518 Lewis Hamilton – 1’35.219
+0.644 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’35.345
+0.697 Pierre Gasly – 1’35.398
+0.987 Charles Leclerc – 1’35.688
+1.010 Esteban Ocon – 1’35.711
+1.150 Sebastian Vettel – 1’35.851
+1.322 George Russell – 1’36.023
+1.361 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’36.062
+1.417 Nicholas Latifi – 1’36.118
+1.551 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’36.252
+1.691 Lance Stroll – 1’36.392
+1.789 Fernando Alonso – 1’36.490
+1.871 Yuki Tsunoda – 1’36.572
+1.970 Mick Schumacher – 1’36.671
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda | 1’36.798 | 1’34.946 | 1’34.701 | -0.245 | 57 |
2 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’36.508 | 1’35.919 | 1’34.805 | -1.114 | 60 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.874 | 1’35.360 | 1’34.988 | +0.114 | 56 |
4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’35.806 | 1’35.824 | 1’34.912 | -0.894 | 52 |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.919 | 1’35.310 | 1’35.219 | +0.3 | 56 |
6 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’36.855 | 1’35.203 | 1’34.945 | -0.258 | 44 |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’37.458 | 1’35.457 | 1’35.345 | -0.112 | 50 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’36.611 | 1’36.242 | 1’35.398 | -0.844 | 60 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’36.972 | 1’35.561 | 1’36.392 | +0.831 | 58 |
10 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’36.334 | 1’35.572 | 1’35.688 | +0.116 | 58 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’36.970 | 1’36.158 | 1’35.711 | -0.447 | 55 |
12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’36.982 | 1’36.718 | 1’35.851 | -0.867 | 68 |
13 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.966 | 1’37.490 | 1’36.023 | -0.943 | 49 |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’36.876 | 1’36.558 | 1’36.062 | -0.496 | 63 |
15 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.463 | 1’37.254 | 1’36.118 | -1.136 | 53 |
16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’36.874 | 1’36.138 | 1’36.252 | +0.114 | 60 |
17 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1’37.068 | 1’36.376 | 1’36.490 | +0.114 | 42 |
18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’37.954 | 1’36.983 | 1’36.572 | -0.411 | 62 |
19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1’38.866 | 1’37.041 | 1’36.671 | -0.37 | 56 |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 1’42.239 | 1’38.026 | 2’03.456 | +25.43 | 57 |
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2021 United States Grand Prix
- Mercedes encouraged despite ‘toughest race for a long time’ in Austin
- For the sake of the title fight, F1 must get a grip on its track limits problem
- Pit stop problems costing Ferrari “quite a lot of points” – Sainz
- Sold-out crowd of 380,000 at COTA shows F1 can add third US race – Brawn
- While the pressure’s off I can “push myself” more – Russell
Kribana (@krichelle)
23rd October 2021, 20:21
First time entering predictions… Anyone willing to put Perez on pole? Lol
Moi
23rd October 2021, 21:19
Since both Ham and Ver set a (deleted) quicker time, no.