The Red Bulls were scared by the times they set on Saturday during the free practice session, after yesterday Friday they did not seem so fast.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) beat the rest of his rivals after setting the best time of 1’27.901 after using two new sets of soft tyres. His teammate Checo Pérez, who had problems with his car on Friday, was 4 tenths behind him. The same distance separated third-placed Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) from Verstappen, with the two Mercedes half a second behind Georges Russell 4th and Lewis Hamilton 5th. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) qualified in the sixth position, 7 tenths behind Verstappen, while Fernando Alonso (Alpine) was tenth further, 1.6 seconds,
The sky was very cloudy but the drivers were able to enjoy the last dry free practice session, waiting for it to rain in qualifying, which will start at 4:00 p.m. (CET). The vast majority of riders went out on the soft tire and some chose the medium.
Verstappen soon moved into first followed by Leclerc, and then midway through the session Hamilton moved between the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers. Sainz was fourth ahead of Russell and Pérez, while Fernando Alonso was seventh.
In the second part of the session, the drivers fitted new soft tires and prepared for qualifying. It was when Leclerc moved up to second place just 2 thousandths behind Verstappen, but the Red Bull rider further improved his time and lowered it to 1’27.901. Then his teammate Checo Pérez, who had some problems on Friday, was 4 tenths behind him.
