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Abu Dhabi GP:More of the same for ROKiT Williams in FP3


By Andrew Hooper
November 30 2019

The final practice session for the 2019 Abu Dhabi GP would see a very typical result for the ROKiT Williams team with both drivers slowest. Again we would see George Russell finish ahead of team-mate Robert Kubica with the gap 0.6s. Both drivers would focus on runs using just the soft tyre but it was a difficult session as it is not at the same time as the next session qualifying so it was difficult to assess their pace.

 
 ROKiT Williams Abu Dhabi GP Saturday Practice
 
Kubica
 

Team Summary:
The final practice session for the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand prix would get underway with small number of drivers coming out for instillation laps, including a Williams. But with ten minutes completed the track would be empty but with just under fifty minutes remaining drivers would start to return with a mix of medium and soft tyres been used. Norris would set a 1m:38.987 to be quickest. Sainz was second followed by Raikkonen but Hulkenberg would go quickest only to have Ricciardo move ahead with a 1m:38.271 with both Renault's on the soft tyre while those behind were on the medium. Bottas would go quickest with a 1m:37.911 running a brand new engine. Vettel was now second using the soft tyre followed by Ricciardo, Albon, and Hulkenberg fifth.

Hamilton was now quickest with a 1m:37.699 from Bottas and Vettel. Verstappen would move to the top of the times with a 1m:37.202. At the front both Mercedes would move ahead of Verstappen with Hamilton fastest with a time of 1m:36.877 to be ahead of Bottas by 0.312. With thirty minutes remaining the order was Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Albon, Gasly, Hulkenberg and Magnussen tenth. Hamilton was quicker with a 1m:36.640. With just over twenty minutes remaining the track would only see a few runners. Vettel would go second running on the medium tyre. Leclerc was now third also on the medium tyre. Bottas would return to second ahead of Vettel.

Verstappen and Albon both on the soft tyre were now third and fourth followed by the two Ferrari's. Verstappen would improve with a 1m:36.586 to be quickest. With the end of the session drivers would complete practice starts on the grid due to the nature of the pit lane. The top ten would be Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Albon, Vettel, Leclerc, Perez, Ricciardo, Sainz and Gasly tenth. For Williams George would finish ahead of Robert but the pair were slowest with George ahead of Robert by 0.653. Qualifying was most likely see little change for either driver.

Robert Kubica:
Robert would be first out for Williams in his final practice session running on the soft tyres. He would complete two installation laps prior to pitting. He would return for his first run and would set a very slow lap time of 2m:15.703 but his next lap would be a 1m:40.929 seeing him slowest. But he would improve with a 1m:40.439 to be 19th. He would pit briefly returning on another set of soft tyres. Robert would set a 1m:39.859 but remained slowest. With the end of the session Robert would pit remaining slowest.

George Russell:
With just over forty five minutes remaining George would take to the track for the first time running on the soft tyre. George would tell his engineer that he had some vibration coming off the brake peddle. he would complete two laps prior to pitting without setting a time. Shortly after George would return and would set a 1m:40.193 and would pit after a five lap run. He would drop to 17th with twenty minutes remaining. Returning for his next run George would set a 1m:39.206 to now be 16th. He would pit after a five lap run. In his pit he would drop to 18th. George would pit and then return as the session drew to a close. He would pit with the end of the session.

 
Russell
 
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m36.566s - 15
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m36.640s 0.074s 18
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m36.655s 0.089s 17
4 Alexander Albon Red Bull-Honda 1m36.927s 0.361s 18
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m36.975s 0.409s 15
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m37.010s 0.444s 16
7 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m37.516s 0.950s 16
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m37.615s 1.049s 14
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m37.691s 1.125s 22
10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Honda 1m37.736s 1.170s 17
11 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m37.768s 1.202s 12
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 1m37.963s 1.397s 18
13 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m38.100s 1.534s 18
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m38.198s 1.632s 12
15 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m38.462s 1.896s 16
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m38.514s 1.948s 21
17 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m38.580s 2.014s 14
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m38.782s 2.216s 18
19 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m39.206s 2.640s 16
20 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m39.859s 3.293s 17
 
Kubica
 

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