United States – EL3: Pérez hits the last before qualifying, Verstappen wakes up

Largely left behind during EL1 on Friday afternoon, the Red Bull woke up during the next two sessions. Already first in FP2, Sergio Pérez doubled the lead this Saturday with the absolute best time in the third free practice of the weekend in Austin.

After a relatively calm start to the session while waiting for the tarmac to improve, the Texan track was taken by storm. Although calm with an average of fifteen laps completed per driver, the times have improved considerably compared to the day before. Fastest man on Friday, Sergio Pérez once again dominated the time sheet with a mark of 1'34, or 701 tenths faster than his previous best reference.

In the harsh Friday afternoon, Max Verstappen seems to have found the right adjustments on his RB16B before qualifying. More on his legs, the championship leader was able to string together some very good fast laps and was even close to setting the best time in these FP3. Unfortunately, the Dutchman went wide at turn 19 and logically saw his mark removed by the race direction. Same case for its main rival Lewis Hamilton. A time in the lead with a 1'34″4, the seven-time world champion finally fell to 6th place, 5 tenths behind Sergio Pérez after being beyond the track limits at turn 9.

On the side of Team Ferrari, feelings are mixed. Carlos Sainz, equipped with a new engine from Turkey, was inserted between Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen with a time of 1'34"805 while Charles Leclerc whipped in this final hour of training. Ninth behind Pierre Gasly, the Monegasque was never able to find the right set-up on his SF21, even to the point of spinning out in the first sector. Esteban Ocon completed the Top 10.

Beyond the Top 10, the gaps widened compared to the lead with more than a second behind for Sebastian Vettel, 11th, followed by George Russell, Kimi Räikkönen, Nicholas latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi. Promised at the bottom of the grid, Fernando Alonso didn't do too much and settled for a very discreet 17th time, 1″7 behind Sergio Pérez. Yuki tsunoda, Mick Schumacher et Nikita mazepin brought up the rear.

Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix will be followed on AUTOhebdo from 23:00 p.m. this Saturday.