Quiet start to the third exercise
It took a long time to see the action on track during the third free training session on the circuit of America. Fifteen minutes later, for the first time we saw some serious activity on the road, but most of the drivers were quietly near their cars in the pit box.
Lewis Hamilton opened the ball in the soft tire with 1.35.8. While Max Verstappen was still in the pit box, his time was upgraded to two tenths by Sergio Perez. With 40 minutes to go, we saw the Dutchman on the trail for the first time. Valteri Potass under the Perez period at that time.
Hamilton picked up speed slightly on the new set of soft tires. Verstappen got an excellent first run, diving down almost four-tenths of the fastest time of that moment, driven by Harmilton.
Verstappen lightning fast
Potassium, which he had to give in his fastest time as he exceeded the limit of the track, spun again on the soft tire. As a result, he finished last in the middle of the session.
Previously, Verstappen teamed up with Perez, but in a new flying lap, the Dutchman significantly improved his time to 1.34.9. With that he was three tenths from his teammate and six tenths from Hamilton. Both Ferraris and McLarens had a good start to the session and settled into the second tier.
On the third attempt, Potash was finally able to set some time on a new set of tires. He was approaching one-tenth of Verstappen’s time. However, Carlos Science has shown that he can go a little faster by setting a faster time with his Ferrari.
Verstappen and Hamilton have to give up fast time
We had to wait for Verstappen and Hamilton’s qualifying runs in the final stages of the third training session. Perez regained the Peking Order by diving below Science’s time, but Verstappen was three tenths below Perez’s time. In turn, the Dutchman went on the track with four wheels, taking his fast lap time from him.
Hamilton was also two-tenths faster than Perez, but crossed the line in the 9th lane, and he too had to give up his lap time. A new fast lap is not possible for Verstappen due to traffic. Hamilton also decided to give it up.
This means that Perez is a faster man than Science and Verstappen. Mercedes was in fifth (potas) and eighth (Hamilton) positions.
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