George Russell topped the timesheet in a wet final practice session at the British Grand Prix, berating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.035 seconds, with McLaren’s Lando Norris 1500ths further back in third.
Heavy rain in the build-up to the final hour of practice meant that with significant standing water on the track and the expectation that wet conditions would return sooner rather than later meant drivers stuck to Intermediate Pirelli tyres for the whole of the session.
The tricky nature of the conditions was emphasised early on when World Championship leader Max Verstappen had a spin at the exit of Brooklands, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slide wide at high-speed Copse. But while they both managed to continue the track proved too unpredictable for Pierre Gasly.
The Alpine driver slid off track at Vale and beached his car in the gravel trap. The red flags came out and running was halted.
After a seven-minute delay the green light went on at the end of the pit lane and drivers had another opportunity to test what were now improving conditions.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was the first to make the most of the better grip and he went more than two seconds quicker than Yuki Tsunoda’s pre-red flag P1 time of 1:47.080.
Thereafter the times began to tumble. Russell edged ahead of Piastri before Leclerc and Verstappen claimed top spot but Hamilton then moved ahead of them all with a lap of 1:39.546 that set the pace as the rain began to fall again.
Hamilton improved again, to 1:38.065, which was beaten by Russell who stopped the clock at 1:37.529. Hamilton attempted to respond but his 1:37.564 only proved good enough for second.
Norris was third fastest, 0.185s off Russell’s benchmark, and almost half a second clear of fourth-placed Carlos Sainz, while Verstappen ended the session in fifth, ahead of Leclerc and Piastri.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso put in a good late lap to claim improved late to claim eighth ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez, and the top 10 order was rounded out by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg who finished 1.8s behind Russell.
2024 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Free Ptractice 3
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:37.529 23 217.449
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.564 0.035 28 217.371
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:37.714 0.185 20 217.037
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:38.139 0.610 23 216.097
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:38.393 0.864 20 215.539
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:38.454 0.925 26 215.406
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:38.654 1.125 27 214.969
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:38.940 1.411 21 214.348
9 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:39.284 1.755 18 213.605
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:39.340 1.811 16 213.485
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:39.603 2.074 24 212.921
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:39.700 2.171 23 212.714
13 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:39.702 2.173 22 212.709
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:39.820 2.291 26 212.458
15 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:40.242 2.713 22 211.564
16 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:40.430 2.901 25 211.167
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:40.539 3.010 21 210.939
18 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:40.823 3.294 28 210.344
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:41.785 4.256 23 208.356
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault – 2