Belgian GP: Williams Martini sees no improvement in FP3
By Andrew Hooper
August 26 2017
The final practice session for the 2017 Belgian GP would see the Williams Martini team find no real improvement over their Friday pace with the teams drivers finishing in 15th and 16th. Not surprisingly Lance Stroll would finish ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa with Felipe having lost a full day of practice on Friday. Qualifying appears to be turning out to be a difficult time for the Williams team with the possibility that both drivers may not make it past the first period.
Williams
Martini Belgian GP Saturday Practice
Team Summary:
With the start of the Saturday practice the track was damp in places seeing
many drivers come out on intermediate tyres but the track was drying
quickly. Both Red Bull cars were out on the super soft tyre. The track would
empty with quite a few drivers yet to come out, including Hamilton. The
first driver back out would be Kvyat running on the super soft tyre. More
drivers would start to come out as Kvyat set a 1m:48.498. Fifteen minutes
into the session and both Williams cars were out for their first runs. Sainz
would go quickest but Bottas would move ahead with a 1m:46.493 on super soft
tyres. Hamilton would go quicker with a 1m:45.480 also on the super soft
tyre.
Both Williams drivers would complete their first timed laps to be fifth and
sixth, but both drivers were over three seconds off the quickest times.
Raikkonen was now second with a 1m:45.583, with only nine drivers having set
a time. Ricciardo was now third behind Raikkonen. But Vettel would move into
third also on the super soft tyre. Both William drivers would continue to
drop down the times as Raikkonen went quickest with a 1m:45.422. Vettel was
able to improve moving up to second with a 1m:45.458. Palmer was now in
seventh followed by Alonso and Hulkenberg. Twenty five minutes remaining and
the Williams drivers were fifteenth and seventeenth. Drivers would start the
ultra soft tyre runs with Ricciardo going quickest with a 1m:45.286 but
Verstappen would move ahead with a 1m:45.034.
Quickly Raikkonen would go fastest with a 1m:43.916 with Hamilton now
second. Both Williams were now in their pits getting ready for their
qualifying simulations. Fifteen minutes remaining and Vettel was now second
and Hamilton third. Verstappen was fourth followed by Bottas, Ricciardo,
Palmer, Alonso, Hulkenberg and Sainz in tenth. On their qualifying runs
Palmer would go seventh behind Ricciardo. After their qualifying simulations
the Williams drivers were in fifteenth and sixteenth with both drivers
continuing to struggle. The session would end with Raikkonen still fastest
from Vettel and Hamilton. Verstappen was fourth followed by Bottas,
Ricciardo, Palmer, Perez, Sainz, and Alonso tenth. Another difficult session
with both Williams drivers well down the times.
Felipe Massa:
After not been able to run at all on Friday as a result of his crash Felipe
was back in his repaired car and would take to the track running on the
intermediate tyre. Felipe would pit after a single lap. It was terribly
important for Felipe to get out and get track time. Felipe would return with
ten minutes completed in the session running on the ultra soft tyre. Felipe
would set a 1m:48.929 to be fourth dropping to sixth. With twenty five
minutes of the session complete Felipe was now tenth as he continued a long
run on the ultra soft tyre. Felipe would continue to drop down the times
now fifteenth with half the session completed. During his run Felipe had
been able to set a 1m:48.032 which was an improvement but still saw him down
the order. Felipe was under investigation for not slowing under double
yellow flags. Felipe would also pit after a fourteen lap run. Felipe would
join Lance out for his qualifying simulation. He was currently seventeenth
and his run would only see him move up to fourteenth with a 1m:46.667. He
would drop to sixteenth behind his team-mate.
Lance Stroll:
After a Friday that saw Lance at the back of the field hopefully Saturday
will see an improvement. Lance would take to the track running on the
intermediate tyre for his installation lap. Lance would also pit after just
one lap. Lance would join Felipe out on the track but he was on the super
soft tyre. Lance would set a 1m:48.959 to finish behind Felipe in sixth
dropping to seventh. Lance would drop to eleventh still behind Felipe. Lance
would come onto the radio saying that he had a big flat spot on his left
front. Lance was now seventeenth behind Magnussen. He would pit after a nine
lap run but was quickly back out but would return after a single lap. Lance
would be the first Williams to return for his ultra soft tyre run and it
somewhat a change of would move up to seventh with a 1m:46.620. He would
drop to eighth behind Grosjean. This would become fifteenth as other drivers
set their qualifying times.
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