FP3: Leclerc leads Piastri and Verstappen during final Silverstone practice

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets during Saturday’s final practice session for the British Grand Prix, leading the way from McLaren rival Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – as rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman endured late crashes.

After a bright and warm first day at Silverstone, topped by home favourite Lando Norris, cloudy, cooler conditions greeted the drivers for FP3, which gave them one more chance to tweak their cars ahead of the mid-afternoon Qualifying hour.

When the session got under way at a slightly delayed time of 1135, drivers gradually trickled out on track to begin their programmes and assess the conditions – Pirelli’s soft, medium and hard compound tyres all being used in the opening minutes.

Lewis Hamilton was one of the early movers when the action got under way, bolting on a set of soft tyres and clocking a 1m 26.529s to hold the provisional P1 spot, which prompted plenty of cheers from the packed grandstand and grass banks around the track.

As per Friday’s running, there were some significant gusts of wind for Hamilton and the rest of the drivers to deal with – seemingly highlighted when Lance Stroll drifted his way out of the Luffield hairpin and just about prevented his Aston Martin from spinning.

Kimi Antonelli also reported a “massive moment” through the Maggotts and Becketts complex when he began to push, while there was drama for Alex Albon when he faced a slow-moving Aston Martin at the entry to Copse and swore over the radio to express his frustration.

As for lap times, Leclerc used the soft tyres to get down to a 1m 25.922s and take over from team mate Hamilton in P1, a couple of tenths clear of a more competitive looking Max Verstappen, who nonetheless complained of brake bias difficulties.

“A little bit of rain,” Leclerc then commented over the radio with around 20 minutes to go, but it was nowhere near enough to stop drivers from pumping in laps on slicks and making improvements – George Russell proving this when he slotted into second position.

With some 15 minutes remaining, Norris sent the home crowd wild again by going quickest on a 1m 25.606s, followed closely by Verstappen and team mate Piastri via similarly significant gains, before Leclerc fired in a 1m 25.498s to reclaim P1.

Hamilton was also on a rapid lap at this point, hitting the Sector 2 beam 0.074s clear of Leclerc, only for the red flag to be thrown for debris on track – meaning he had to abandon the effort. “We think the bodywork might be yours,” was the subsequent message to Haas driver Bearman.

The session resumed with a few minutes to go but was soon halted again when Gabriel Bortoleto lost control of his Kick Sauber through the aforementioned Maggotts/Becketts sweeps, bounced over the grass and ended in the gravel with suspension damage.

It meant Leclerc ended up fastest over Piastri, Verstappen and Norris, with Yuki Tsunoda an encouraging fifth for Red Bull, Bearman taking sixth despite another moment late on when he misjudged his entry to the pit lane, spun and damaged his front wing, and Albon putting Williams back into the top 10 positions.

Russell was the fastest of the Mercedes cars on a so far difficult weekend for the Silver Arrows, placing eighth over the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, Hamilton, and the other Williams and Haas machines of Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon.

Next up was Antonelli in 14th, as the Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Bortoleto along with the Aston Martins and Alpines brought up the rear – Fernando Alonso placing in front of Franco Colapinto, Stroll and Pierre Gasly.