Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas topped a rain-disrupted final free practice ahead of Formula 1’s racing return to Circuit Paul Ricard.
The track started off dry, with Bottas being one of the first drivers to exit the pits. Not long after setting his session-topping 1m33.666s lap in the opening five minutes, the rain came down and gradually got worse.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were the only two other drivers to set a time within two seconds of Bottas, with many drivers leaving the pits too late or not at all before the track became wet.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the session fourth and fifth respectively, with both having to drive carefully around the wet circuit on slick tyres.
The circuit was empty for the majority of the session until Alonso went out with less than 12 minutes to go on full wet tyres.
Williams duo Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll joined in soon after Alonso came back to the pits, and while the pair were able to set flying laps they were both over 28 seconds off Bottas’ lap due to the conditions.
Five drivers didn’t set a time during the session, with Nico Hulkenberg telling Sky Sports this was due to the teams worrying about not having enough wet tyres for if it rains during qualifying and the race.
