Italian GP: FP3 a closing of the gap for Williams Racing
By Andrew Hooper
September 5 2020
The final practice session for the 2020 Italian GP would see the Williams Racing Team close the gap to the teams in front in terms of lap times but despite this both Williams drivers were again well down the times. George Russell and Nicholas Latifi would finish the session in 18th and 19th. Based on this qualifying is going to be a tough session for the Williams Racing Team. George may be able to find some extra pace or gain from a tow but Nicholas has consistently been close to the bottom of the times so another thing beyond Q1 is going to be very difficult for the Canadian.
Williams
Racing Italian GP Saturday Practice
Team Summary:
The final one hour practice session on the Saturday at Monza would see both
Alfa Romeo and Haas cars taking to the track first. Norris and Gasly had
joined them with all six drivers returning after a single lap. But there
would be no further running until fifteen minutes into the session and then
it was just Sainz by himself. Sainz would set a 1m:21.875 on the medium.
Sainz would improve with a 1m:21.502. With forty minutes remaining the track
would suddenly fill with very car running including both Williams cars
running on the soft tyre. Leclerc and Vettel were second and third using the
soft tyre. Ricciardo was now quickest with a 1m:21.441 but Hamilton would go
quickest with a 1m:20.658 followed by Bottas and Gasly. The Williams drivers
were 14th and 19th after their first runs. Ocon would move up to third but
it would be Perez now fourth followed by Gasly, Kvyat, and Albon. But
Verstappen would move up to fourth using the medium tyre. Ocon and Perez
were also on the medium tyre.
Bottas would move ahead of Hamilton with a 1m:20.622 but Verstappen would go
even quicker with a 1m:20.456 but he was on the medium tyre. Bottas was now
second followed by Hamilton, Ocon, Albon, Perez, Kvyat, Gasly, Stroll and
Ricciardo tenth. Kvyat would improve to sixth using the soft tyre. The track
would empty as drivers completed their first runs leaving just Sainz by
himself running on the medium tyre. With under twenty minutes remaining both
Mercedes on the soft tyre would return. Bottas would set a 1m:20.089 to go
quickest but Hamilton would only manage second. Both Ferrari's were now
running along with Verstappen. More drivers would join them including both
Williams drivers. Albon would improve to fourth but other drivers would go
quicker as Norris went second and Ricciardo third. Hamilton was now fourth
followed by Verstappen and Albon. After their second soft tyres run the
Williams drivers were 17th and 18th with George leading Nicholas.
But the session would be red flagged when Ricciardo would be forced to pull
off the track at the first Lesmo with an engine issue. There was now four
minutes remaining as they worked to deal with Ricciardo's car. The session
would turn green and there would be a number of drivers who returned for a
final run. This would include both Williams drivers. With the end of the
session the Williams drivers were now 18th and 19th with only Giovinazzi
slower. At the front Sainz was now second followed by Norris, Ricciardo,
Hamilton, Verstappen, Albon, Ocon, Stroll and Perez tenth. Despite not been
as far up the order as they would have hoped the Williams drivers were
certainly closer to the cars in front compared to Friday. But regardless
qualifying is going to be a tough session for the Williams Team.
Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would be first out for Williams in the session using the soft tyre.
Nicholas would set a 1m:23.164 to be slowest. His next quick lap would see a
1m:22.590 to be 18th. But Nicholas would drop to 20th as others went
quicker. He would pit with roughly thirty minutes remaining. He had
completed a seven lap run on the soft tyre. With twelve minutes remaining
Nicholas would return for his second soft tyre run. Nicholas would set a
1m:21.764 to go 17th to be ahead of his team-mate but this would become
18th. He would return after the red flag was cleared again on the soft tyre
but his final run would see no improvement and he would finish in 19th..
George Russell:
George would also come out using the soft tyre. George would set a 1m:22.520
to be 14th. George would improve with a 1m:22.107 to remain 14th. He would
pit after a nine lap run on the soft tyre. George was back out for a second
soft tyre run with just over ten minutes remaining. George would improve
with a 1m:21.677 to now be 17th. With a red flag from Ricciardo he would pit
but would return when the session went green. He would fail to improve but
would drop to 18th as the session ended.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net