EL3: Bottas in the lead before going off the track

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) set the best time in FP3 of the Japanese GP, completing a lap of the Suzuka circuit in 1’29”055. The Finn finished the session in first place with a hundredth advantage over his teammate Lewis Hamilton but made a mistake by going wide after the Spoon turn, bringing his session to a premature end.

After setting the fastest time in FP3, @ValtteriBottas had what could be a costly slip #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/8RqAjYy2yx

— Formula 1 (@F1) 7th October, 2017

Ferrari also had a half-happy, half-smooth session. IF Sebastian Vettel finished three tenths behind the Mercedes, his teammate Kimi Räikkönen also made a mistake by ending up in the tire wall.

Oh Kimi #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3CAfuGHZoa

- Formula 1 (@ F1) 7th October, 2017

The four-time world champion finished ahead of the Red Bull de Max Verstappen et Daniel Ricciardo. Esteban Ocon (Force India) finished just outside the top five, preceding Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Sergio Pérez (Force India) and Jolyon Palmer (Renault).

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) ranked 16th, half a second behind his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr by preceding his compatriot Romain Grosjean (Haas). Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) set the 12th time.

Qualifying for the Japanese GP will be contested from 8 a.m. and will be followed live on Canal+ Sport and with our live text.