Valtteri Bottas narrowly eclipsed Lewis Hamilton during a dry final practice session for Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez a close third.
Bottas’ best time of 1:15.437 left him just 0.042s clear of Hamilton as the W11s were again the quickest cars during a dry session.
But Racing Point maintained its impressive early-season form as third-placed Perez classified just 0.161s down on leader Bottas.
Lance Stroll backed up the pace of the RP20s by finishing in fifth position.
Charles Leclerc provided a glimmer of encouragement in a difficult campaign for Ferrari as he finished just 0.344s down on Bottas in fifth position.
Red Bull again in trouble
Red Bull was off the pace in the dry first session and that trend continued in final practice.
Max Verstappen had an early spin, aborted one lap when he understeered through the penultimate corner, and complained about gear sync issues en route to sixth position.
Team-mate Alexander Albon was also unhappy with the RB16 as he finished down in 12th spot.
It came after Red Bull used one of its two curfew breakages overnight in order to carry out work on the RB16s.
Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren, Sebastian Vettel eighth for Ferrari while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.
George Russell provided further hope for Williams as he finished 14th, ahead of both representatives from Haas and Alfa Romeo.
Qualifying is due to begin at 15:00 local time.
# | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | V. BOTTAS | Mercedes | 1:15.437 | 18 | |
2 | L. HAMILTON | Mercedes | 1:15.479 | +0.042 | 20 |
3 | S. PEREZ | Racing Point | 1:15.598 | +0.161 | 16 |
4 | C. LECLERC | Ferrari | 1:15.781 | +0.344 | 19 |
5 | L. STROLL | Racing Point | 1:16.033 | +0.596 | 15 |
6 | M. VERSTAPPEN | Red Bull | 1:16.084 | +0.647 | 18 |
7 | L. NORRIS | McLaren | 1:16.193 | +0.756 | 18 |
8 | S. VETTEL | Ferrari | 1:16.351 | +0.914 | 18 |
9 | P. GASLY | AlphaTauri | 1:16.453 | +1.016 | 20 |
10 | D. RICCIARDO | Renault | 1:16.508 | +1.071 | 14 |
11 | C. SAINZ | McLaren | 1:16.545 | +1.108 | 21 |
12 | A. ALBON | Red Bull | 1:16.582 | +1.145 | 19 |
13 | E. OCON | Renault | 1:16.706 | +1.269 | 20 |
14 | G. RUSSELL | Williams | 1:16.847 | +1.410 | 23 |
15 | R. GROSJEAN | Haas | 1:16.866 | +1.429 | 15 |
16 | K. MAGNUSSEN | Haas | 1:17.086 | +1.649 | 14 |
17 | D. KVYAT | AlphaTauri | 1:17.292 | +1.855 | 15 |
18 | A. GIOVINAZZI | Alfa Romeo | 1:17.496 | +2.059 | 20 |
19 | K. RAIKKONEN | Alfa Romeo | 1:17.527 | +2.090 | 25 |
20 | N. LATIFI | Williams | 1:17.650 | +2.213 | 17 |