Bottas tops final practice in Belgium

F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas put himself into the spotlights this morning at Spa by setting the fastest time during final practice ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

FP3 kicked off on a wet circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, leaving most drivers in the pits, awaiting better conditions to get out on the track. Felipe Massa and Jenson Button though were two of few drivers who went out early to do a lap.

15 minutes later, as the sun started to dry the track rapidly, most others followed for a few brief laps on full wet or intermediate tyres before another break. Past the halfway mark, Esteban Gutierrez was the first man to go out on dry weather Pirelli tyres, signalling others a few laps later to also leave the pits and essentially kick off running.

In the end it was Valtteri Bottas who set the fastest time on an ever improving track, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Ferrari and Mercedes were not far behind however. The former were clearly experimenting with a low and higher downforce set-up while Mercedes were mostly busy with system checks, including practice starts while the track was still too damp to perform relevant running.