Alpine’s Pierre Gasly set the fast time of a final practice session for the 2024 FAI Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix that was halted for more than 40 minutes after Williams’ Logan Sargeant crashed heavily.
With steady rain falling in the run-up to the final hour of practice, FP3 got off to a slow start with few drivers taking to the circuit. And that reticence was proved right when, after 14 minutes, Sargeant crashed. The American drive put a wheel on the grass on the exit of Turn 3 and his Williams immediately swapped ends. Sargeant hit the barriers hard causing heavy damaged to both the front and rear of his FW46 which then caught fire. The US racer was able to exit the car but with the barriers also damaged, lengthy repairs ensued.
After a 44-minute delay the session was green-flagged once again, with just two minutes of running left. That resulted in a swarm of cars jockeying for position as they exited the pit lane.
It was Gasly who made the most of the frenzied dash on intermediate tyres. The Alpine driver took top spot with a lap of 1:20.311, just over a tenth of a second ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and eight tenths ahead of third-placed Kick Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas.
Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren, a second off Gasly, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in fifth.
Further back, Max Verstappen was placed under investigation for a potential pit lane infringement on the resumption. The Dutch driver he passed Oscar Piastri on the inside at the pit exit and then overtook George Russell and put a wheel over the white line on the pit exit.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:20.311 5 190.912
2 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:20.450 0.139 9 190.582
3 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:21.155 0.844 7 188.927
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.387 1.076 6 188.388
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:21.461 1.150 6 188.217
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:21.643 1.332 4 187.798
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.850 1.539 10 187.323
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:21.941 1.630 7 187.115
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:22.354 2.043 5 186.176
10 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:22.589 2.278 6 185.646
11 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:23.240 2.929 5 184.195
12 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:23.287 2.976 4 184.091
13 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.958 3.647 7 182.619
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:24.007 3.696 5 182.513
15 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.098 3.787 3 182.315
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.158 3.847 4 182.185
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.360 4.049 3 181.749
18 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:25.433 5.122 7 179.466
19 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT – 4
20 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT – 2
