FP3: Verstappen tops third and final rain-disrupted session
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen wound up topping the rain-affected final practice session on the inters before the rain intensified, with a 2m 01.565s, 1.433s ahead of Piastri.
Rain had been predicted for Friday which ultimately did not materialize yesterday. However, it arrived for Saturday after the Formula 3 sprint race and the qualifying session of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup took place on slightly damp surface, but mostly in dry conditions.
The opening stages of the final practice saw drivers enjoy relatively good conditions which enabled them to complete a few laps on intermediate tyres.
It was Max Verstappen to set the benchmark with a time of 2m01.565s, almost 1.5 seconds ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris.
Pierre Gasly took third for Alpine, from Lando Norris in P4, Esteban Ocon in P5, followed by Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton with Sergio Perez rounding out the top ten.
George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen did not set a lap time.
After fifteen minutes into the session, the heavens opened and topped up the puddles all over the track which saw drivers struggle out on the very wet track.
A few moments later, the red flag was brought out by Lance Stroll, who lost control of his Aston Martin through Eau Rouge, snapped into the run-off area and thumped the inside wall, which caused significant car damage and put him out of the session.
After Stroll’s car was cleared away, and the Canadian got taken to the Medical Centre for precautionary checks, the session resumed with some 40 minutes left on the clock – Verstappen’s early effort of 2m 01.565s still the benchmark.
Although the session resumed, with 25 minutes remaining, the red flag appeared again due to the track conditions.
With two minutes left on the clock, the session was restarted again to allow drivers to perform a start practice on the grid. Eight drivers dared out on to the track, tiptoeing their way back to the pit lane in the heavy rain.
