Valtteri Bottas led Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton during final practice for Formula 1’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Bottas set a time of 1:22.310s to finish just 0.078s as drivers carried out qualifying simulations on Soft tyres at the Losail International Circuit.
Verstappen trailed the Mercedes drivers as the track ramped up with each run but made a mistake through Turn 1 on his quickest effort.
Verstappen spent some time in the garage prior to his final run as Red Bull addressed the DRS actuator on the rear wing of the RB16B.
The top flap of Verstappen’s rear wing was oscillating at full speed on the approach to Turn 1 in a similar manner to as witnessed at previous grands prix.
The session took place in daytime, making it less representative than usual, with qualifying and the race both scheduled for shortly after sunset.
Gasly continues strong form
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished second in both of the practice sessions held at Losail on Friday.
That strong one-lap performance continued on Saturday afternoon as last year’s Monza victor classified fourth overall, ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Carlos Sainz was the lead Ferrari driver in sixth position, ahead of Alpine duo Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, with Charles Leclerc ninth after a spin through the exit of Turn 2.
Gasly’s AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.
McLaren’s prospects of overhauling Ferrari in the fight for third overall appear to be receding, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris only 11th and 13th respectively.
More woe for Mazepin
Nikia Mazepin missed the second session after his original chassis sustained damage from the aggressive kerbs in the first session.
Haas carried out a chassis change, reverting Mazepin to the version he used earlier in the season, enabling the Russian to return to action on Saturday.
But as Mazepin exited the pit lane he was told to stop the car and affirmed to his engineer that the power unit sounded unusual.
The session was briefly halted to allow Haas’ mechanics to wheel the VF-21 back into the pit lane.
Haas determined that the ECU needed changing on the car, bringing his session to a halt after just a few hundred metres, and leaving Mazepin facing an uphill challenge ahead of qualifying.
Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix is scheduled for 17:00 local time
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