Bottas takes over to keep Mercedes on top in FP3

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Valtteri Bottas picked up in FP3 where team mate Lewis Hamilton left off yesterday, in the ultimate session before this afternoon's qualifying for the Brazilian GP.

The Finn clocked in with a 1:09.281, just a few hundred of a seconds short of Hamilton's pace-setting time from FP1. The Mercedes pair led from Ferrari's duo, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.


Brazilian Grand Prix - Free Practice 3 results

PosDriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Valtteri BottasMercedes1:09.281s24
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:09.284s+ 0.003s26
3Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:09.326s+ 0.045s20
4Sebastian VettelFerrari1:09.339s+ 0.058s21
5Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:10.244s+ 0.963s14
6Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1:10.288s+ 1.007s15
7Sergio PérezForce India1:10.322s+ 1.041s21
8Esteban OconForce India1:10.357s+ 1.076s23
9Max VerstappenRed Bull1:10.495s+ 1.214s9
10Carlos SainzRenault1:10.599s+ 1.318s23
11Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1:10.637s+ 1.356s21
12Felipe MassaWilliams1:10.671s+ 1.390s14
13Kevin MagnussenHaas1:10.721s+ 1.440s19
14Nico HülkenbergRenault1:10.743s+ 1.462s18
15Romain GrosjeanHaas1:10.762s+ 1.481s20
16Pierre GaslyToro Rosso1:10.981s+ 1.700s32
17Brendon HartleyToro Rosso1:11.085s+ 1.804s30
18Pascal WehrleinSauber1:11.126s+ 1.845s25
19Marcus EricssonSauber1:11.480s+ 2.199s27
20Lance StrollWilliams1


Drivers took to the track under a menacing sky and with a few damp patches still lingering from the overnight rain.

The initial installation laps saw most running on the medium compound tyre - the hardest available from Pirelli this weekend, with McLaren's Fernando Alonso setting the fastest time.

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley were hard at work from the outset, eager to make up for yesterday's crucial lack of running.

Williams' Lance Stroll however was sidelined ten minutes into the session when an ominous puff of smoke was seen exiting his FW40 and a terminal sound was heard onboard.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, on his first effort of the day, put himself at the top of the timesheet with a 1:09.928s, a lap around seven tenths slower than Lewis Hamilton's best in FP1 yesterday.

Meanwhile, Red Bull's drivers, who had remained confined to the garage for engine mileage reasons, finally emerged but without making much of an impression.

The Mercedes camp also joined the action with both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas dialing in the speed at the wheel of their supersoft-shod W08.

Yet it was Ferrari, with Raikkonen followed by Sebastian Vettel, who headed the field with just fifteen minutes remaining.

The move prompted an immediate response from the Silver Arrows squad, with Bottas, courtesy of a superb final sector, reclaiming P1 while his team mate was hot on his heels in P2.

In his efforts to improve in the final stages of the FP3, Max Verstappen spun at Turn 12 after taking too much kerb on the exit.

It was a competitive final hour which Mercedes concluded ahead once again, but the margin to its rivals has decreased substantially from yesterday.

Who will have the edge in the battle for pole position?

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