Austin-EL3: Verstappen and Ricciardo at the forefront

The final driving session before qualifying for the United States Grand Prix allowed the Red Bull de Max Verstappen et Daniel Ricciardo to stand out. At the end of a rather lively first quarter of an hour on the track, the two RB12s of the Australian and the Dutchman had already taken the first two positions, before Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) took control of the session on super-soft tires.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) was forced to return to the pit lane at slow speed, following a right rear puncture on his STR11. The Spaniard will be faced with a similar mishap again a quarter of an hour from the end of the session, this time with a left rear puncture.

Max Verstappen will subsequently improve his reference time to 1’36”766 after switching to super-soft tires after several stints on medium tires. The Dutchman will maintain his first position in front of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo until the end

Räikkönen finished with the 3rd fastest time but with a mistake in the penultimate corner. The Finn is ahead of both Mercedes de Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, authors of their times on soft compounds. Both drivers will pass the super-soft tires well, but will not be able to complete a significant lap.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) follows in sixth position ahead Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Valtteri Bottas (Williams) and both McLaren by Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. Sergio Pérez (Force India) is in 11th place ahead of the first Renault R.S.16 of Jolyon Palmer and the second Williams of Felipe Massa.

Confirmed a few minutes before the start of these EL3, Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) finished 14th ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. Both Haas VF16 of Gutiérrez and Grosjean still seem to be in difficulty, taking 16th and 17th positions. Esteban Ocon (Manor) took 21st place and ahead of his teammate Pascal Wehrlein.

The German was at the origin of the red flag being displayed a little over 40' from the checkered flag after going off the track into the gravel trap at turn n°19.

RED FLAG: Wehrlein has beached his Manor in the gravel #USGP  # FP3 pic.twitter.com/4ucm0gku6w

— Formula 1 (@F1) 22th October, 2016

The qualifying session will begin at 20 p.m. French time, and will be followed live on our website with our live text.

Results Free Trials 3