Portuguese GP: Difficult FP3 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
May 1 2021

The final practice session for the 2021 Portuguese would see the Williams Racing Team have a difficult session with their drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi finishing well down the order in 17th and 19th. The session would also see other teams struggle with their tyres and the track conditions. The wind was also making the running difficult. Now the big question is whether the team can firstly improve the car and secondly whether the track conditions will improve such that they can have a better qualifying.

 
 Williams Racing Portuguese GP Saturday Practice
 
Latifi
 

Team Summary:
The final Saturday practice would commence with Stroll first out joined by Vettel both on the hard tyre. Schumacher and Mazepin were next out with Schumacher on the medium and Mazepin on the soft. Both Aston Martins with pit after single laps. A 1m:23.026 from Schumacher. Hamilton would join in using the hard tyre as Mazepin set a 1m:24.955. A spin from Schumacher but he would recover and continue while Hamilton would pit. A 1m:22.777 from Schumacher as he continued his run. With ten minutes completed more drivers would come out for their first runs including Ocon, Alonso, both Alfa Romeos and Bottas amongst them. Tsunoda was now quickest with a 1m:20.987 with Raikkonen fourth.

There was a mix of tyres been used including soft, medium and hard. Raikkonen's time would be deleted seeing Alonso on the medium fourth. Tsunoda would set an improved 1m:20.161 followed by Alonso, Perez, Ricciardo and Raikkonen. Both Ferrari's out on the soft tyre as we had Raikkonen now fastest on the soft with a 1m:19.944. But Ocon on the medium would move ahead with a 1m:19.672. Leclerc was now in second ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso. Both Mercedes were out using the soft tyre as we had the Williams drivers 12th and 13th with just under forty minutes remaining. Perez would move into third as we now had the Williams drivers 11th and 13th.

Ricciardo was now fourth followed by Raikkonen, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sainz, Gasly and Norris tenth. On a well used medium tyre Gasly would go quickest with a 1m:19.536 only to see Leclerc go quickest with a 1m:19.001 on the soft tyre followed by Bottas. But Verstappen was now second but as Perez went fastest with a 1m:18.840 this would become third. The Williams drivers were now 14th and 17th. At the front Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:18.755 using the soft tyre. The order was Hamilton from Perez, Leclerc, Verstappen, Bottas, Gasly, Sainz, Ocon, Ricciardo and Raikkonen tenth. The Williams drivers would drop to 15th and 20th.

Alonso was now third on a soft tyre ruin but his tyre was deleted remaining 12th. Hamilton was back out on the soft tyre with sixteen minutes remaining. Both Williams drivers were both back out for another soft tyre run. Hamilton would improve his time but remained second behind Verstappen who had set a 1m:18.545.. Bottas would improve to be third followed by Perez. With six minutes remaining the Williams drivers were 17th and 19th and with the end of the session they would remain in these positions. The order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Perez, Ocon, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Gasly and Raikkonen tenth. It would seem that this session was a real struggle for both Williams drivers as they really did not produce any sort of improved result. Seemed like a step backwards for Williams Racing But it did seem like many other teams were having issues with the tyres and the track conditions. The Aston Martins were 16th ands 18th and the Williams 17th and 19th.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would be first out in the session for Williams. He would use the soft tyre for his first run. His first lap was a 1m:21.298 to be eighth. He would drop to 12th. Even with an improved 1m:20.681 Nicholas would remain 12th. He would drop to 17th as he pitted. In the pits he would drop to 20th so it would seem that they have not sorted his issues. But Nicholas would move back to 19th as another drivers time was deleted. Nicholas would return for what was most likely a qualify simulation. He would complete a long run on the soft tyre but his lap times would see him not improve and he would pit after a seven lap run. He would return to complete a practice start on the grid.

George Russell:
With twenty minutes completed George would come out also using the soft tyre. George would set a 1m:20.983 to be 13th right behind his team-mate. A 1m:20.189 from George would see him now 11th. He would drop down the times to be 14th as he pitted then returned to the track again on the soft tyre but would return after a single lap. Now 16th and George would return on another set of soft tyres. George would set a 1m:20.155 but remained 16th. Again a 1m:20.127 and George would still remain in 16th. George would also pit after a seven lap soft tyre run. In the pits George would drop to 17th. He would return to complete a practice start on the grid.

 
Latifi
 
Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap
1  Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'18.489  
2  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'18.725 0.236
3  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1'18.820 0.331
4  Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'18.840 0.351
5  Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'18.860 0.371
6  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'19.001 0.512
7  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'19.050 0.561
8  Lando Norris McLaren 1'19.272 0.783
9  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'19.374 0.885
10  Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1'19.415 0.926
11  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'19.485 0.996
12  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'19.582 1.093
13  Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1'19.588 1.099
14  Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'19.949 1.460
15  Mick Schumacher Haas 1'20.033 1.544
16  Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'20.090 1.601
17  George Russell Williams 1'20.127 1.638
18  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'20.214 1.725
19  Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'20.681 2.192
20  Nikita Mazepin Haas 1'20.690 2.201
 
Latifi
 

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Portuguese GP: Difficult FP3 for Williams Racing
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 01/05/2021 13:52
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