Belgian GP: Encouraging FP3 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
August 29 2020

The final practice session for the 2020 Belgian GP would see the Williams Racing Team have an encouraging session despite only been able to complete two runs both on the soft tyre. At the end of the session Nicholas Latifi would finish in 13th and George Russell 18th. But in the chaos of the final soft tyre runs George would see himself struggle to find a clear section of road and as a result was not able to set a lap time that was close to that of Nicholas. But it was necouraging to see the pace that Nicholas was able to achieve as they prepare for qualifying.

   
   Williams Racing Belgian GP Saturday Practice
   
  Russell
   
 

Team Summary:
With the start of the Saturday practice we would see both Haas cars along with those from McLaren and AlphaTauri. Magnussen would set a 1m:45.984 running on the medium tyre with Grosjean second. The track would empty with fifteen minutes of the session completed. With forty minutes remaining drivers would start to take to the track after a short period of light rain. This would include both Williams drivers. Very quickly the track was filled with cars with all three tyres been used. The Williams drivers were on the soft tyre. Norris would go quickest only to be passed by Albon with a 1m:45.092. Bottas on the soft tyre he would go fastest with a 1m:43.813 followed by Hamilton also on the soft tyre. Perez was third but on the hard tyre followed by Ocon, Albon, Stroll, Ricciardo, Vettel, Norris, and Nicholas in tenth.

Verstappen would move into second using the soft tyre. The Williams pair had dropped to 13th and 14th. Leclerc would move into 12th and Vettel 15th. This would see the Williams drivers now 13th and 16th. Gasly was now up to fifth behind Perez. Ocon was sixth followed by Magnussen, Norris, Albon and Ricciardo tenth. With twenty minutes remaining the only driver on the track was Raikkonen who was slowest, but he would also pit leaving the track empty as the rain returned. With the sun again shinning there would be a rush of drivers coming out all on the soft tyre. This would include both Williams drivers. The only car not running was Magnussen. Ocon would go quickest with a 1m:43.485 but Hamilton would go quicker with a 1m:43.235 with Norris now third. After all the soft tyre runs were completed Albon was fourth followed by Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Stroll, Sainz and Perez in tenth. The Williams drivers were in 13th and 18th as the session came to an end. The difference between the Williams drivers was just 0.3 but this small fraction meant five places.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would follow his team-mate out also on the soft tyre. Nicholas would set a 1m:45.844 to be third dropping to seventh. This would become 10th. He would rop to 16th as other drivers went quicker. He would pit after his first run with twenty five minutes remaining. He would return with just about five minutes remaining and would set a 1m:44.771 to be currently 12th. He would drop to 13th as the session ended.

George Russell:
George would take to the track running on the soft tyre with forty minutes remaining. George would set a 1m:45.859 to be inside the top ten but would drop to 11th. But George would find time with a 1m:45.715 to be tenth dropping to 11th. This would be come 14th as Leclerc and Sainz moved ahead of him. In the closing stages of the session George would join a rush of drivers coming out but he would be caught up in traffic with so many drivers all trying to get clear laps. He would set a 1m:45.157 to only be 18th as the session ended.

   
  Latifi
   
 
Pos Driver Team Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m43.255s
2 Esteban Ocon Renault DP World F1 Team 0.230s
3 Lando Norris McLaren F1 Team 0.386s
4 Alexander Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 0.476s
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 0.558s
6 Max Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 0.641s
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault DP World F1 Team 0.718s
8 Lance Stroll BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.733s
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 0.751s
10 Sergio Perez BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.925s
11 Pierre Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1.253s
12 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1.288s
13 Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing 1.516s
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1.586s
15 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1.589s
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1.677s
17 Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 1.892s
18 George Russell Williams Racing 1.902s
19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1.935s
20 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 2.165s
   
  Russell
   
 

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Belgian GP: Encouraging FP3 for Williams Racing
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 29/08/2020 12:37
Williams F1
29/08/2020 12:37
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