With a temperature of 30 degrees, the audience in Le Castellet had to lubricate again for this training. When the drivers were allowed onto the asphalt at 5 pm (track temperature 55 degrees), this often happened on mediums and hard tires. In 2021, no soft tire was used in the race on the Paul Ricard circuit, so the ‘performance’ on the harder tires seems more relevant for Sunday.
The focus was on qualifying, but just like earlier in the day, Verstappen’s run was anything but flawless. “I have a lot of understeer in the first sector,” said the world champion, who lost a little more on Sainz’s 1.32.527 on every part of the track. The gap to the Spaniard was more than half a second, with World Cup rival Charles Leclerc in between.
So work to be done for Red Bull Racing, in the run-up to qualifying tomorrow afternoon (4 p.m.). Earlier in the day (13.00) the teams still have an hour to try out the last things.
Mick Schumacher made another big spin