FP3 Highlights | 2024 British Grand Prix

Rain fell at Silverstone overnight, which meant a wet start to final practice. Pierre Gasly was an early casualty of the conditions, the Frenchman losing the rear at Turn 16 and beaching his Alpine in the gravel trap, causing a brief red flag. Standing water in places meant it was tricky to warm up the tyres, Max Verstappen weaving around early doors and completing a full 360 pirouette, but thankfully on one of the wider stretches of the circuit, so little danger of any damage. Charles Leclerc had a wobble in the wet at Copse, Le Monegasque washing wide on the exit and later finding the kerbs at Vale. Valtteri Bottas was another to slip up on the sodden surface, the Finn flying through the loop, his Sauber kicking out behind him. The drizzle increased in the final 20 minutes of practice, so we didn't get any slick running. Best of the bunch on the green-ringed rubber were the Mercedes drivers. Spielberg winner George Russell with the fastest lap of the session, clocking in at 1 minute 37.529, just over three hundredths quicker than his Silver Arrow teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Lando Norris went wide at Abbey, the McLaren man rapid down the pit straight and opting for the escape road before rejoining the track. His best lap was good enough for P3, almost two tenths back from the leading time. A distracted Carlos Sainz drifted at Luffield and had words of advice for his engineer. The Spaniard finished P4, six tenths off the lead and two tenths faster than current Drivers' Championship leader Verstappen in P5. The Haas cars had been the first on track in FP3 and Nico Hülkenberg was rewarded for his dedication with a tenth-place finish as the flag fell. And Alex Albon almost crept into the top ten, albeit more than two seconds off Russell's pace at the front. A mixed session for Aston Martin. A late lap for Fernando Alonso saw him jump up to P8, having languished in the lower places. Teammate Lance Stroll downed the pecking order in P12. The Silverstone-based team will hope for a better showing in qualifying later today. So, Russell, Hamilton and Norris complete a British Driver 1-2-3 in final practice, ahead of qualifying for their home race. They were followed by the lead Ferrari of Sainz. Then came Verstappen, Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Alonso, Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg. P11 for Albon. Then came Stroll, Logan Sargent, Yuki Tsunoda, Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Joe Guagnou, with the unlucky Gasly unable to lay down a competitive lap.