Max Verstappen, the fastest of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, in third practice; Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari, ahead of Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton; look at the UK standings at 15:00, with the build-up starting at 14:10
Last update: 02/07/22 13:35
Max Verstappen dominated the third practice at Silverstone
World Championship leader Max Verstappen produced a dominant performance in the final training sessions of the British Grand Prix to establish himself as the clear favorite for pole in the Silverstone standings.
After surprisingly keeping pace during Friday’s training sessions, Red Bull offered a great show of strength on Saturday morning as Verstappen appeared to be in a league of their own, finishing more than 0.4 seconds behind their teammate Sergio Pérez in second place.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was marginally behind Perez in third, with Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton a tenth further behind in fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of Carlos Sainz.
After a wet-open training session on Friday that saw limited execution, a dry P2 saw Sainz narrowly lead Hamilton, prompting the seven-time world champion to fight for a first victory of the season.
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz are still suffering from porpoise with their cars in the final training sessions of the British Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz are still suffering from porpoise with their cars in the final training sessions of the British Grand Prix.
Those hopes remained intact for the first 20 minutes of the third practice, as Mercedes and Ferrari seemed strong, but then Verstappen came out of his garage.
The Dutchman, who enters tomorrow’s race with a 46-point lead in the world championship over his teammate Sergio Pérez after winning five of the last six races, was immediately left with almost half a second to go. in the face of Leclerc’s leadership time.
Hamilton was one more reason for optimism at Mercedes, as he came close to 0.1 seconds behind Verstappen in his significantly improved Silver Arrow, before Leclerc approached two-hundredths of Red Bull.
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Charles Leclerc left the Silverstone track with his Ferrari during the final training sessions before recovering.
Charles Leclerc left the Silverstone track with his Ferrari during the final training sessions before recovering.
However, Verstappen responded with another powerful effort, as his 1: 27.901 restored a margin of nearly half a second.
Once again for Ferrari and Mercedes, Perez finished second in the final stages and left Red Bull with full control before qualifying, which is seen live on Sky Sports at 3 p.m.
“Obviously they had a lot of things on hand, and they knew it too, and they didn’t show it until the end,” former F1 world champion Damon Hill said after the session.
The biggest threat to the search for the Verstappen pole may turn out to be weather, with the forecast of showers during the classification.
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We go on board with McLaren driver Lando Norris during the third training sessions of the British Grand Prix.
We go on board with McLaren driver Lando Norris during the third training sessions of the British Grand Prix.
However, as demonstrated during the third practice, when showers had been expected but never arrived, Silverstone’s weather is far from predictable.
Lando Norris was the cause of celebration among the crowd of British fans in attendance, with the McLaren driver sealing his place as the “best of the rest” in seventh place.
Valtteri Bottas was eighth for Alfa Romeo, with Mick Schumacher’s Haas and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine completing the top 10.