#F1 #BritishGP FP3: @Georgerussell63 leads @MercedesAMGF1 one-two.

Russell British GP FP3 – Home favourite George Russell lead from team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in a damp final practice session before qualifying at the British GP as McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the top three.

Russell posted the session-topping benchmark of a 1:37.529 on the green-marked intermediates and was a slim 0.035 seconds clear of team-mate Hamilton as Norris was a further 0.185 seconds adrift in third as all three Brits headed the time-sheets at their home Grand Prix.

Despite a red flag and the effect of more rain throughout the session, a steady level of improvement continued beyond the midway point, allowing Russell to take the quickest time – still over ten seconds off the dry times of Friday – before the conditions worsened.

Rain had fallen all morning at Silverstone to setup wet and cold conditions at the start of Saturday, although the track had dried up slightly since the earlier postponement of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint race.

Early running was not certain, but the circuit was good enough for intermediates as the rain started to subside. Due to the conditions, the lap-times were around 20 seconds adrift of yesterday’s best efforts, although there was time for plenty of improvements.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda registered the opening benchmark below the 1:50’s bracket and then improved to a 1:47.080 on his next flyer, jumping Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso as they produced solid times on the intermediate rubber.

However, the momentum was halted as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly slipped off the track at Vale and into the gravel trap to prompt the sessions stoppage; the marshals came to clear the beached A524 racer.

The stoppage lasted for seven minutes, giving the drivers an opportunity to get back on the track before another band of rain threatened to sweep across Silverstone.

But the track improvements were visible at the session’s restart, as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri went two seconds quicker than Tsunoda’s pre-red flag benchmark.

As the times began to drop despite the onset rain arriving, it was more than a sprinkle of rain and thus could not disrupt the track evolution too much. Therefore, the pack started to set times below the 1:40 mark, prompting the switching at the top the time-sheets by Mercedes, Ferrari, and championship leader Max Verstappen.

The time-swapping began to slow as the rain started to intensify slightly; this lead to teams switching to long race runs before increased rain was set to hit the circuit. Hamilton posted a 1:38.065, which was beaten by Russell’s 1:37.529; as the former responded with a 1:37.564, but he was just 0.035 seconds off his Mercedes team-mate.

Norris ended the session third overall and almost half-a-second clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed in fifth.

Ferrari’s Leclerc and McLaren’s Piastri were next in the classification in sixth and seventh respectively.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was eighth as Red Bull’s Perez and MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant finished the final practice session outside the top ten in 11^th and 13^th respectively as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll sandwiched in-between in 12^th whilst RB’s Yuki Tsunoda followed in 14^th.

Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 15^th and in-front of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who came 16^th in the order and MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who placed 17^th.

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo took 18^th as Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the aforementioned Alpine of Gasly brought up the rear.

Ricciardo is currently under investigation by the race stewards for weaving in the pit-lane.

You can see the full Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1240/great-britain/practice-3.html

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