Rain-impacted FP3 sees limited running from drivers

© XPB 

Valtteri Bottas put his name at the top of the timesheet in FP3 in what turned out to be a very wet dress-rehearsal before this afternoon's qualifying session.

The Finn, and the drivers he preceded, never managed more than five laps in the disrupted session, leaving everyone with more questions than answers before this afternoon's battle.

French Grand Prix - Free Practice 3 times

PosDriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Valtteri BottasMercedes1:33.666s3
2Carlos SainzRenault1:34.953s+ 1.287s3
3Charles LeclercSauber1:35.012s+ 1.346s5
4Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1:36.365s+ 2.699s4
5Sebastian VettelFerrari1:36.756s+ 3.090s5
6Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1:37.547s+ 3.881s4
7Pierre GaslyToro Rosso1:38.317s+ 4.651s5
8Marcus EricssonSauber1:38.450s+ 4.784s3
9Sergio PérezForce India1:39.641s+ 5.975s4
10Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:39.738s+ 6.072s3
11Esteban OconForce India1:40.087s+ 6.421s4
12Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:40.743s+ 7.077s3
13Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:49.711s+ 16.045s3
14Lance StrollWilliams2:02.399s+ 28.733s4
15Sergey SirotkinWilliams2:04.093s+ 30.427s5
16Kevin MagnussenHaas1
17Brendon HartleyToro Rosso3
18Romain GrosjeanHaas1
19Nico HülkenbergRenault2
20Max VerstappenRed Bull3

Southern France's sunny weather gave way to covered skies and the threat of rain, enticing everyone to make a run for it early on in the session.

Several drivers actually reported a few rain drops on the visor from the outset, but that didn't keep Valtteri Bottas from setting an initial benchmark time of 1m33.666s - ahead of Sainz, Leclerc and Alonso.

Five minutes into the session however, the track started to dampen, and drivers exerted caution. After 15 minutes, a thoroughly soaked surface brought everyone back in and in waiting mode.

Seven minutes from the end of the session, McLaren fired up Alonso's McLaren who headed out for a few exploratory laps, along with Williams' Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll, likely just to get a feel for things in case the afternoon's qualifying is also impacted by rain.

Leclerc, Vandoorne, Gasly and Hartley also briefly ventured out, but all were cautioned by their team to avoid taking any risks.

Wise advice just two hours before the all-important grid-defining session…

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