EL3 in Belgium: Ferrari on its way, McLaren nowhere

Sebastian Vettel stops the clock with a time of 1'42''661 set on Super-Soft tires and ahead of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen by 63 thousandths.

The red cars precede the Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas. The leader of the Drivers' classification is 0,137s behind his direct rival in the championship. The time of his Finnish sidekick, more than eight tenths behind, is not representative since Bottas will have to start from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.

As a reminder, Ferrari et Mercedes have the new specification of their in-house propeller this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

The session was interrupted by a red flag in the last 10 minutes, the result of Stoffel Vandoorne going off the track (McLaren). The Belgian, who wanted to take his teammate's aspiration Fernando Alonso on the straight which leads to Les Combes, tried to quickly overtake Bottas, inserted between the two MCL33s, after the Raidillon de l'Eau Rouge.

The Mercedes driver did not see Vandoorne arriving quickly behind him and thus involuntarily squashed him into the grass on the left. This incident concluded another very complicated session for McLaren. Alonso and Vandoorne failed in the last two positions, more than four full seconds behind the reference times.

Behind the Ferraris and Mercedes, Max Verstappen et Daniel Ricciardo complete a Top 6 with a very familiar look even if the Red Bull are pushed back more than 1,3s from their Italian and German rivals.

Charles Leclerc continues to gain momentum throughout the sessions. The Monegasque from Sauber hoists his C37 and its powerful Ferrari engine to 7th place. The former GP3 champion and Formula 2 brings in his wake Sergio Pérez (Racing Point Force India), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) and Esteban Ocon (Racing Point Force India), best French representative in EL3.

The Haas de Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen continue to keep a low profile, ranking in 12th and 14th place respectively. Timid performances also on the side of Toro Rosso-Honda with the 15th and 16th times of Pierre Gasly et Brendon Hartley.

Despite a not really fun car, Williams manages to place his two FW41s in front of the out of breath McLarens.

In the lead during the three free sessions, will Scuderia Ferrari convert these good performances into qualifying? Response from 15:00 p.m. with live commentary on CARhebdo.fr

FP3 CLASSIFICATION: @ScuderiaFerrari have been fastest in all three practice sessions #BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yFolpFlypN

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2018