Saturday’s activity kicked off with the FP3 Silverstone session after heavy morning rain delayed the Formula 3 schedule to this afternoon.
The last two sessions were dominated by McLaren, but in FP3 in Silverstone, Mercedes dominated under wet conditions with George Russell leading with a lap of 1:37.529s ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.035s.
Lando Norris, fastest in both Friday sessions, finished in third with just 0.185s behind Russell. The British trio dominated the standings, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz trailing by just over six-tenths of a second.
At the beginning of the session, the rain ceased, allowing for a normal run with intermediate tires. The first drivers to hit the track were Nico Hülkenberg and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Ferrari is on track with the old configuration for Carlos Sainz, while Charles Leclerc continues with the new package.
After just six minutes of activity, there are parts of the track where drivers struggle to keep their cars on the racing line.
While Max Verstappen has a harmless spin at Luffield, Gasly lost the rear of his car and got stuck in the gravel at Vale, causing a red flag. This incident was particularly unfortunate for him as he needed to get a feel for these conditions.
The session resumed, and track conditions gradually improved. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull drivers progressively climbed to the top of the leaderboard.
Charles Leclerc set a provisional fastest time of 1:42.451, indicating that times would continue to improve as the track dried. Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris immediately bettered Leclerc’s time, with Hamilton leading at 1:41.905, just 50 milliseconds ahead of Norris.
Valtteri Bottas had a harmless spin and Piastri moved up to P2, trailing Hamilton by 0.383 seconds. Mercedes claimed a provisional one-two with Russell displacing Piastri from P2, 0.207 seconds behind Hamilton.
With half an hour remaining, Charles Leclerc led the session, just 0.057 seconds ahead of the local hero Lewis Hamilton. The improving track conditions promised more exciting developments as the session progressed.
As the track continued to dry, all drivers improved their times, including Lando Norris, who moved up to third position behind the two Mercedes. However, in the second half of the session, fewer drivers were on track as the rain returned. The two Mercedes and the Red Bulls focused on the long runs with intermediate tires.
Additionally, Daniel Ricciardo was summoned by the stewards for an improper “weaving” movement in the pit lane.
Leclerc, in sixth place, was the only other driver within a second of Russell, followed by Oscar Piastri in his McLaren, 1.125 seconds adrift.
Sergio Perez trailed by six-tenths in his Red Bull, followed by Nick Hulkenberg’s Haas. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin completed the top 10, albeit with a two-second gap.