Dutch GP: Improvements from Williams Racing in FP3

Team Summary:
Saturday practice for the 2021 Dutch Grand prix and the one thing of note was the replacement of Raikkonen with Kubica due to a positive Covid test. Kubica would be out first running on the soft tyre joined by both Haas cars. Hamilton was out running early in order to make up for the time he lost in FP2. A 1m:15.854 from Kubica would see him quickest but Schumacher would set a 1m:14.099 to go quickest only to have Hamilton move ahead with a 1m:12.010 using the soft tyre. Next to come out were Ricciardo and Norris both on the medium tyre. Ricciardo would go second behind Hamilton but Norris would move ahead seeing Hamilton fastest from Norris and Ricciardo. Tsunoda was fourth ahead of Schumacher, Mazepin and Kubica. Next would were Giovinazzi and Alonso. They would be followed by both Ferrari's as Giovinazzi went fourth and Alonso went quickest with a 1m:11.996.

Ocon and Perez were out for their first runs on the medium tyre. Leclerc would go fastest with a 1m:11.768 followed by Sainz but Alonso would move back ahead with a 1m:11.705. Norris was now third behind Leclerc while Hamilton was now fifth. The Williams drivers were currently 13th and 14th. But the session would again be Red Flagged as Sainz was to crash at Turn three going heavily into the barrier. He would spin and send his car backwards into the barrier doing a considerable amount of damage. With under thirty minutes remaining the session would be restarted with the whole field out running with the majority on the medium tyre. Bottas and Verstappen were out for their first runs.

Verstappen would go quickest with a 1m:11.225 but on the soft tyre Bottas would go quickest with a 1m:11.217. Gasly was now third followed by Alonso, Leclerc, and Perez sixth. The Williams drivers had dropped to 17th and 18th and even with improved times they would remain in these positions. On the soft tyre Alonso would go quickest with a 1mL10.670 from Verstappen and Norris. Verstappen was on the medium tyre as Bottas was now fourth. Norris would have a moment on the gravel seeing him having to pit. Alonso was quickest but Bottas on the soft tyre would move ahead with a 1m:10.178. But Verstappen would set a 1m:09.623 from Verstappen from Bottas and Hamilton. The Williams drivers were now 11th and 13th.

The top ten was currently Verstappen from Bottas, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Norris, Vettel, Leclerc, Gasly and Ricciardo tenth. But Stroll would move into seventh to be ahead of team-mate Vettel. Gasly would move into tenth as the session drew to a close. With the end of the session drivers would return to the track for practice starts. They would finish the session in  12th and 14th. It was a session that had shown some improvement from both Williams drivers with Nicholas again ahead of team-mate George. Qualifying was certainly looking far more promising.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would follow George out for his first run using the medium tyre. Nicholas would set a 1m:13.116 to be 14th right behind his team-mate. With a Red Flag he would pit but would return again on the medium tyre. A 1nL12,745 would see Nicholas ahead of his team-mate but this would only be 17th. Nicholas was also back out on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:11.083 to be sixth. He would drop to 12th pitting after a three lap run. As yesterday he would return to complete a practice start.

George Russell:
George would take to the track for his first run using the medium tyre. He would set a 1m:12.921 to be 13th. But would pit with a Red Flag and after a delay would return still on the medium tyre. George would improve with a 1m:12.791 to be 16th. He would drop to 18th and would pit after a five lap run. With fifteen minutes remaining George wuld return for a soft tyre run. He would set a 1m:11.274 to be sixth. He would drop to seventh behind Bottas. This would become 14th as others went quicker. he would pit after a three lap run. He would return with the end of the session to complete a practice start.