Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Red Bull Ring, 2019

Leclerc leads Mercedes pair in final practice

2019 Austrian Grand Prix third practice

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Charles Leclerc set the quickest lap of the weekend so far as he led the two Mercedes drivers in final practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

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The Ferrari driver was the only person to lap the Red Bull Ring in less than 64 seconds during the final hour of running ahead of today’s qualifying session.

Lewis Hamilton came closest to unseating him from the top of the times, producing a best lap of 1’04.130 in his Mercedes. However he was quickest in the first and third sectors, and told his team he felt he had more time in hand as he returned to the pits.

The 2017 and 2018 Austrian Grand Prix pole winner, Valtteri Bottas, backed his team mate up in third place, less than a tenth of a second behind. Sebastian Vettel was a few hundredths adrift in the other Ferrari.

Max Verstappen came next, a few tenths shy of the fight for pole position. However he was comfortably ahead of Pierre Gasly, who was forced into the pits earlier in the session for a power cycle after reporting problems with his Honda.

The Red Bull pair were split by Lando Norris, who lapped fractionally with a second of Leclerc’s time in his McLaren. Earlier in the session McLaren practised using Carlos Sainz Jnr’s car to give him a tow – Sainz will have to start from the back of the grid due to a power unit penalty. Nonetheless he set eighth-fastest time.

Antonio Giovinazzi and Daniil Kvayt completed the top 10, followed by Alexander Albon and Nico Hulkenebrg who also have grid penalties.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrari1’03.98718
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’04.1300.14321
377Valtteri BottasMercedes1’04.2210.23423
45Sebastian VettelFerrari1’04.2500.26320
533Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’04.4460.45918
64Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’04.9860.99919
710Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Honda1’05.1521.16515
855Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’05.2191.23222
999Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’05.3361.34917
1026Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Honda1’05.3911.40425
1123Alexander AlbonToro Rosso-Honda1’05.4811.49429
1227Nico HulkenbergRenault1’05.5141.52721
137Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’05.5141.52721
1411Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’05.5231.53618
158Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’05.6201.63320
1618Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes1’05.6501.66317
173Daniel RicciardoRenault1’05.8781.89119
1820Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’06.0172.03011
1963George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’06.6762.68923
2088Robert KubicaWilliams-Mercedes1’07.4843.49723

Third practice visual gaps

Charles Leclerc – 1’03.987

+0.143 Lewis Hamilton – 1’04.130

+0.234 Valtteri Bottas – 1’04.221

+0.263 Sebastian Vettel – 1’04.250

+0.459 Max Verstappen – 1’04.446

+0.999 Lando Norris – 1’04.986

+1.165 Pierre Gasly – 1’05.152

+1.232 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’05.219

+1.349 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’05.336

+1.404 Daniil Kvyat – 1’05.391

+1.494 Alexander Albon – 1’05.481

+1.527 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’05.514

+1.527 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’05.514

+1.536 Sergio Perez – 1’05.523

+1.633 Romain Grosjean – 1’05.620

+1.663 Lance Stroll – 1’05.650

+1.891 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’05.878

+2.030 Kevin Magnussen – 1’06.017

+2.689 George Russell – 1’06.676

+3.497 Robert Kubica – 1’07.484

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Charles LeclercFerrari1’05.1411’05.0861’03.987-1.09981
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’04.8381’05.5291’04.130-0.70898
3Valtteri BottasMercedes1’04.9991’05.4171’04.221-0.77872
4Sebastian VettelFerrari1’04.9821’05.8711’04.250-0.73277
5Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’05.2601’05.8791’04.446-0.81461
6Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’06.1251’05.9521’04.986-0.96694
7Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Honda1’05.3781’05.4871’05.152-0.22678
8Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’05.5021’05.5451’05.219-0.283100
9Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’06.7081’06.1191’05.336-0.78384
10Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Honda1’06.2721’06.1481’05.391-0.75792
11Alexander AlbonToro Rosso-Honda1’06.2851’06.0641’05.481-0.583107
12Nico HulkenbergRenault1’06.3831’06.2491’05.514-0.73578
13Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’06.7291’05.7281’05.514-0.21481
14Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’06.4571’05.9641’05.523-0.44197
15Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’06.1351’05.7011’05.620-0.08178
16Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes1’06.7561’06.8291’05.650-1.10686
17Daniel RicciardoRenault1’05.8461’06.4181’05.878+0.03276
18Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’05.8761’05.9601’06.017+0.14179
19George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’06.8051’07.2171’06.676-0.12978
20Robert KubicaWilliams-Mercedes1’07.6651’08.5081’07.484-0.18189

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2019 Austrian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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7 comments on “Leclerc leads Mercedes pair in final practice”

  1. Profile Photo

    Mach1 (@mach1)
    29th June 2019, 12:12

    Merc 1/2 then?

    1. Profile Photo

      Jere (@jerejj)
      29th June 2019, 12:15

      @mach1 Yes.

    2. Profile Photo

      MG1982 (@mg1982)
      29th June 2019, 13:44

      1-2, boys!

  2. Chaitanya
    29th June 2019, 12:15

    Come qualifying RBR will be nowhere near either Mercs or Ferraris.

  3. Profile Photo

    Nitzo (@webtel)
    29th June 2019, 12:23

    I never thought i would mention Kubica and 107% rule in the same sentence.
    He is within the limit though.

    1. Profile Photo

      GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
      29th June 2019, 12:39

      Within the 107% limit, yes – but a massive [for this circuit] eight tenths adrift of his rookie teammate.

  4. Profile Photo

    runforitscooby (@runforitscooby)
    29th June 2019, 12:30

    Renault not finding any solutions to their cornering woes, long race for them.

Comments are closed.