Bottas quickest ahead of Hamilton in 3rd French GP practice

Valtteri Bottas finished ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in third and final practice for the French Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later Saturday.

Bottas was 0.041 seconds quicker than Hamilton, the defending world champion who leads the standings this season.

Charles Leclerc was third best ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari struggled to match the pace of Mercedes, and again experienced some issues with tire grip.

Mercedes placed 1-2 in all three practice sessions.

Hamilton was quickest in Friday’s first practice with Bottas topping the second session, while the consistent Leclerc was third in all three.

Ferrari has not won a race this season, however, with Mercedes winning all seven — five for Hamilton and two for Bottas.

Vettel thought he should have won the Canadian GP two weeks ago in Montreal. He crossed the line first but was given a five-second time penalty which meant Hamilton won.

Ferrari’s request to officially review the decision — in the hope Vettel would get the win — was turned down following a hearing with Montreal’s race-day stewards on Friday.

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