Season debrief: Ferrari continue to lead testing in day 3

Session 1 was cut short after a red flag incident, the FIA opting to reschedule the day and end session 1 early and start session 2 at 11:45 (local time), which would run up until the end of the day at 19:00 (local time).

 

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Session 1

 

Shortly after the green light, all drivers had to return to the pits with the red flag coming out, Sergio Perez lifting the drain cover at Turn 11. Charles Leclerc brought out the red flag for the same reason yesterday, the drain cover damaging the floor of his Ferrari, Red Bull mechanics quick to check the floor of the RB20.

 

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After a length pause, as marshals worked to fix the drain cover, the FIA opted to reschedule the day. Session 1 was ended just over an hour after its start, with session 2 set to resume at 11.45 (local time) and would finish at the end of the day at 19:00 (local time), the extended session expected to be just over 7 hours.

 

To end session 1, it was Sainz to set the fastest lap, with a time of 1:31.247.

 

Session 2

 

Session 2 began promptly at 11:45, with the same drivers from the previous session returning to behind the wheel. It would be up to the teams to make the decision of when to switch their drivers, except for Williams who had Albon run both sessions for day 3.

 

There were issues early into the second session for Sauber and Bottas, the screens going up meaning that the floor was off the C44. McLaren also having issues, as mechanics worked on Norris’s car for what would later be revealed to be clutch issues.

 

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Gasly was second to test in day 3 for Alpine, with less than an hour left of the session, Gasly was missing a chunk of his ‘wheel-brow’ bodywork, bringing him back to the pits for the remainder of the session.

 

In the final half an hour, the FIA conduced their race control test. Beginning with a VSC, followed by a safety car, bringing all the cars to a slow, before a red flag sending all cars back to the pits. The FIA tested the lights out yesterday, opting to rehearse a false start today, the cars peeling away one by one from the starting grid.

 

Leclerc finished quickest for the day, with a final time of 1:30.322, George Russell followed behind in P2 with a time of 1:30.368, just 0.046 seconds behind the session leader. In P3 it was Guanyu Zhou, who set a lap time of 1.30.647 on a fresh set of soft tyres just ahead of the VSC test.

 

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The Bull’s did not finish testing in the top 3, with Verstappen in P4 and Perez in P10. Red Bull are said to have big upgrades coming soon, potentially as early as Japan. The updates said to be to do with the design of their sidepods. Mercedes and Ferrari look to have fixed their flaws from last season and with potential to compete with the Bulls this season, Ferrari completing their second consecutive day with the fastest lap. McLaren except from a few hiccups look to also be continuing their progress from last season.