Ferrari send Red Bull WARNING as rapid Leclerc tops FP3, Albon stars again

Charles Leclerc recovered from missing the entirety of FP2 to top the final practice session at the British GP.

The Monegasque got plenty of laps in early in the hour's running to make up for lost time, and showed off his Silverstone prowess to do the fastest lap of the weekend.

Alex Albon was the star of the show on Friday with two third places but he went one better on Saturday morning, ending second of those who managed to get a qualifying simulation in.

Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton completed a jumbled top five while Zhou Guanyu failed to put any laps on the board as Alfa Romeo tried to fix a charging issue on his car.

READ MORE: F1 Silverstone British Grand Prix weather forecast – BIG changes expected across weekend

Schumacher night shift pays off for Mercedes

Mercedes endured a dismal Friday at Silverstone, with neither driver making it into the top 10 at the end of FP2.

Mick Schumacher was therefore sent on the night shift at Brackley and was seen still behind the wheel of the simulator at 2:15am on Saturday morning.

Whatever the German had been trying seemed to work for the Silver Arrows as Hamilton and George Russell were much more competitive compared to Aston Martin, who they are expected to battle this weekend.

Rain ruins the fun

Everyone was just starting to get into qualifying simulations when the typical British weather threw a curveball into the mix, soaking the track.

The likes of Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and many of the midfield runners didn't get a proper run in on soft tyres before the rain which could hamper their qualifying efforts.

It is extra worrying for Red Bull after seeing Leclerc and Sainz show impressive speed over one lap for Ferrari.

There was still more running on the intermediate tyres after the downpour but it was understandably nowhere near the best lap times.

British Grand Prix FP3 practice results - Saturday July 8th

1. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - 1:27.419sec

2. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.173sec

3. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +0.365sec

4. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +0.474sec

5. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.529sec

6. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.545sec

7. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +0.732sec

8. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.847sec

9. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.865sec

10. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] - +0.918sec

11. Nyck de Vries [AlphaTauri] - +1.085sec

12. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +1.144sec

13. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +1.201sec

14. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +1.485sec

15. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +1.788sec

16. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +1.814sec

17. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +2.018sec

18. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] - +2.167sec

19. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +6.171sec

20. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] - No time set

READ MORE: Ted Kravitz: The Notebook star who made Max Verstappen mad

Related

Latest F1 news

British Grand Prix fate sealed in MASSIVE F1 announcement

• February 8, 2024 17:42

British Grand Prix

F1 British Grand Prix 2024: Full guide and ticket details for Silverstone spectacular

• December 22, 2023 16:27