Verstappen sixth in final free practice Hungary

Published on 18 July 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished the third and final free practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix in sixth position. The Dutchman drove eighteen laps on the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring and set a 1:16.084 as his fastest time. Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes was the quickest with a 1:15.437, teammate Lewis Hamilton followed closely behind with a 1:15.479.

Under a dark and cloudy sky, the third free practice goes underway. The drivers of McLaren and Haas form the first group to enter the circuit for a formation lap. It is Kimi Raikkonen for Alfa Romeo who records the first lap time.

After more than fifteen minutes Max Verstappen leaves the pit box and enters the track. The Dutchman is driving on yellow medium tyres and his first recorded time is 1:17.033. When Max is underway to improve his time, he loses control in turn twelve and spins. While the eightfold Grand Prix winner does not suffer any damage, he does visit the pits.

Halfway during the session Valtteri Bottas leads with a 1:16.278. The top six is formed by Sergio Pérez (+0.062), Lewis Hamilton (+0.194), Charles Leclerc (+0.571), Lance Stroll (+0.699) and Max Verstappen (+0.755). The Dutchman is the only one driving on the medium tyre, the rest of the field set their times on soft tyres.

With a little over twenty minutes on clocks there is a short quiet period. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has taken the lead from his teammate with a 1:15.984. At that time Max has driven eleven laps, with the earlier recorded fastest time of 1:17.033.

It does not take long before Verstappen comes out on track again, this time on the soft tyre. In a new attempt the Dutchman sets a time of 1:16.084, taking him in fourth position. He is more than six tenths behind Valtteri Bottas, who takes the lead again with a 1:15.437. Max is still not happy with the balance of the RB16, over the radio he reports to suffer from oversteer.

Valtteri Bottas finishes the session as fastest. Lewis Hamilton (+0.042), Sergio Pérez (+0.161), Charles Leclerc (+0.344), Lance Stroll (+0.596) and Max Verstappen (+0.647) complete the top six.

Hungarian GP contest: win a white RBR MV T-shirt from the new MV collection 2020

Results third free practice Hungary: