The green light came out for the final hour of running before qualifying for the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix: as ever in this session which focuses more on one-lap pace – there wasn’t a flurry of activity in the pit-lane early on. The sunny conditions were a lot different to what drivers will experience later on. Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time ahead of championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in final practice for the Qatar GP. Bottas set a time of 1:22.310, which was narrowly quicker than his teammate behind in second place. Verstappen’s third place was nearly four tenths off the Mercedes cars.
Ferrari Driver Academy member Mick Schumacher in the Haas was the first driver out on track.
Scuderia Ferrari focused on the qualifying simulations, given the fact that the SF21 car did not seem particularly quick on a fast lap during Friday practice. The Maranello team seems to have managed to find a better balance, with both Charles and Carlos more at ease with the SF21, as confirmed by the Ferrari drivers on the team radio.
With then minutes to go, there was a brief off moment for Charles Leclerc, who found the gravel in the Ferrari, but without any big consequences. Ferrari ended the last practice session with Carlos Sainz in sixth place, with a personal best lap time of 1m23.048s (+0.738 from Valtteri Bottas), while Charles Leclerc finished in P9, with a best lap time of 1m23.276s.
Qatar Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from third practice for this weekend’s 2021 F1 World Championship race at the Losail International Circuit.
Results (Classification):
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:22.310
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.078
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.341
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +0.525
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.536
Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.738
Fernando Alonso Alpine +0.876
Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.899
Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.966
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.257
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.401
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +1.574
Lando Norris McLaren +1.585
George Russell Williams Racing +1.613
Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.844
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.936
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.978
Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing +2.189
Mick Schumacher Haas +2.370
Nikita Mazepin Haas NO TIME
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