Rain was forecast and it arrived on time: the third free practice session of the British GP was held in the rain with the drivers running on intermediate tyres. The session began just after the rain stopped and then the asphalt conditions gradually improved, but about twenty minutes before the checkered flag a downpour returned that changed the work plans, pushing the teams to work to close with a long run.
George Russell, winner last Sunday in Austria, was the fastest on green tyres, reaching 1’37″529 with Mercedes. The W15 seems to adapt very well to the slippery surface, as Lewis Hamilton arrived just 35 thousandths behind his teammate. The two drivers of the Star completed many laps trying to gather a lot of information, in case tomorrow’s race should be wet.
Behind the black-silver arrows is Lando Norris with the McLaren: the Englishman with 1’37″714 is 185 thousandths off the top. Apart from a wide run at Copse, Lando seemed very comfortable with the papaya car, while Oscar Piastri seemed to be in more difficulty, almost a second off the British driver in seventh position.
Carlos Sainz appears in fourth place with Ferrari. The Spaniard insisted with the SF-24 in the aerodynamic Imola version, and Charles Leclerc is sixth with the red in the same configuration. Fred Vasseur’s theory that the Scuderia must focus on the latest evolutions to extract the maximum potential from the car has been disproved. The boss has been disavowed by his team! The Spaniard with a cleaner drive has gained an advantage of three tenths compared to the more aggressive Monegasque. Max Verstappen with Red Bull has slipped between the two Ferraris: the three-time world champion was also the protagonist of a couple of spins. Small errors while he was looking for the temperature of his tires, but it is a fact to highlight from someone who was no longer used to making mistakes.
Fernando Alonso’s eighth place was good with the Aston Martin, while Lance Stroll with the other AMR24 did not go beyond 12th place. Sergio Perez was in serious difficulty, ninth with the RB20, but it was not the position that weighed so much as the gap: the Mexican paid more than a second to Max. Too much, definitely too much.
The top 10 is closed by Nico Hulkenberg with the new Haas, while Kevin Magnussen can’t find the pace and is only 17th. In the wet Williams defends itself with Alexander Albon 11th and Logan Sargeant 13th.
Yuki Tsunoda with Racing Bulls put on a show in the first part of the session, often being the fastest, then he finished 14th, while Daniel Ricciardo, 18th, ended up under observation by the stewards because he dared to meander in the pit lane to try to warm up the tires. Maybe they are exaggerating…
Valtteri Bottas with Sauber is 17th (a harmless spin also for the Finn), while Guanyu Zhou is second to last with the C46. The Chinese is ahead only of Pierre Gasly who after only 9 minutes caused a red flag with the Alpine: the French driver was unable to get the intermediate tyres up to temperature and spun at Vale after losing the rear of his A524. No damage to the car, but Pierre was forced to turn off the Renault power unit because he got stuck in the sandy escape route. Session ended very early for the Frenchman.
Esteban Ocon with the other Alpine did not go beyond 16th position. Immediately after the session the rain stopped and the qualifying could be dry…
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