It's qualifying day for the British GP, but first the cars of Formula 1 take to the track for FP3 at Silverstone, session which saw Leclerc closes in first position. Behind him Piastri, Verstappen and Norris are at one tenth. Hamilton has to abort a lap due to a red flag but he also seems to be in contention for a good placing.
Taking to the track: grey skies and wind at Silverstone
The last free practice session is underway, important not only for the teams, but also for the fantasy managers, who will have to decide who to deploy ahead of the British weekend.
After a 5-minute delay due to dirt on the track, the light turns green. The Alpines are the only ones that take to the track, while other drivers wait in their cars and others are still out of the cockpit. After 10 minutes, local hero Lewis Hamilton sets off, with the red tires setting the fastest time, although more than two seconds off the fastest time of yesterday.
With just over 40 minutes to go in FP3 at Silverstone, the action finally kicks in: all the drivers take to the track and Leclerc takes the lead, followed by Verstappen and his teammate. The McLarens, who are running with paint on their front wings, temporarily occupy sixth and seventh positions. In the meantime Leclerc further improved his time by going below the 1.26.000 mark, getting closer to the best time of the weekend.
Halfway through FP3 at Silverstone the provisional standings see Leclerc in first position, followed by Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bearman, Norris, Piastri, Tsunoda and Bortoleto completing the top 10. The Racing Bulls are doing a different job and occupy 15th and 18th positions on the hard tyre, while the Alpines remain at the bottom of the standings.
Last attempts with red tyre in this FP3: Leclerc the fastest
Between Gasly and Stroll's impeachments and Verstappen's curses regarding his Red Bull, Leclerc reports a few drops of rain as we enter the final 20 minutes of this third free practice session. It's just a few momentary drops because it doesn't slow down the drivers on the track: Piastri overtakes Leclerc, as well as Norris and Verstappen, who splits the two Papayas. Tsunoda, confirming the good work done by Red Bull, takes fifth position, while the two Ferraris are coming down with fresh new rubber. Towards the end of these FP3 at Silverstone Leclerc set the fastest time by a hair's breadth from Piastri, while Hamilton was stopped by a red flag after the first two sectors had propelled him into first place.
The red flag was caused by debris on the track that fell off Bearman's Haas he sends everyone back to the pits with just under 10 minutes left. With just a few minutes left in the session, he returns to the track. However, no one can improve because Bortoleto ends up in the gravel after a very high-speed spin in the first sector. The session ended with a lot of emotions, with also Oliver Bearman damaging his car by hitting the nose of the car against the wall while returning to the pits. Too cold brakes played a nasty trick on the rookie.
FP3 at Silverstone gets qualifying off to a flying start: Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen and Norris are separated by just one tenth, with Hamilton not to be forgotten. Tsunoda, Bearman, Albon, Russell, Hadjar and Lawson complete the top 10. The appointment is now at 16:00 pm.
