Verstappen shows recovery with third time in third training
Max Verstappen has used the third free practice for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands to get his Red Bull up to speed. The world champion finished third in a still far from clear round. He clocked 1.11.793 and was only 0.161 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, who was the fastest in his Ferrari with a time of 1.11.632. George Russell set the second time in his Mercedes: 1,11,698.
Verstappen will be satisfied with the progress he has made, because Friday was difficult in the free practice sessions. He dropped out quickly in the first session with a broken gearbox and in the second practice he did not get further than the eighth time.
He and his team have work to do to improve the car, he said afterwards. That seems to have worked, even though he clearly still lacked grip, especially in the Hugenholtz corner. But the Dutch crowd favorite went hard and with guts over the narrow and winding circuit, where the stands were almost completely full. The cheers of his tens of thousands of fans could be heard for miles around.
The qualifying race at 3 p.m. promises to be exciting, as the differences between the best drivers are small. Then the drivers compete for the starting positions for the race on Sunday. Last year Verstappen took pole and a day later he also won the Dutch Grand Prix.