Austrian Grand Prix winner George Russell was fastest of all in a wet final practice session at Silverstone, though his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton was close behind.
After a final hour of free running before qualifying ran entirely on intermediate tyres, Mercedes were fastest of all with Russell’s best time less than a tenth quicker than his team mate.Lando Norris was third fastest, meaning British drivers claimed the top three places at their home track. Carlos Sainz Jnr took fourth ahead of Max Verstappen.
Relentless rain from the end of Friday practice all the way through Saturday morning had forced the postponement of the planned Formula 3 sprint race, but the rain had ended by the time the green light appeared at the end of pit lane for the start of the session. The water levels on track were light enough for drivers to only need intermediates tyres as they headed out on track for the first time.
The lack of grip was demonstrated when Verstappen had a spin on his first lap out of the pits exiting Brooklands, but after a full 360-degree rotation he was able to continue on his way. Pierre Gasly was not so fortunate, as he skidded off track into Vale and found the gravel trap, prompting the session to be halted with a red flag.
As drivers returned to their garages, several were eager to keep heat into their tyres before they were wrapped up into their blankets. Daniel Ricciardo began weaving aggressively in the pit lane as he passed several team crews out accepting their returning cars. The stewards took notice of the RB driver’s tyre warming behaviour in the pit lane and announced they would investigate him for a potential pit lane infringement after the session.
After brief, five-minute delay, the session resumed. However, grip was still at a premium, with Valtteri Bottas having a very slow speed spin at The Loop, while Norris was forced to run off at the first corner Abbey after catching a slide.
With only a small amount of rain still falling over the circuit, times began gradually getting faster as time progressed. Eventually, the two Mercedes drivers, Russell and Hamilton, went quickest of all with near-identical lap times of 1’37.5 as several drivers ran long stints on the intermediate tyres to gauge their longevity.
With around 20 minutes remaining, the rain began to increase in intensity. Several drivers returned to the pit lane, but both Mercedes, RBs and Saubers remained out on the track along with Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon.
Only in the final 10 minutes did many of the field return to the track, including Verstappen and the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sainz, who all headed back on on used intermediates. There were no improvements in the final minutes as everyone remained on old rubber and the session concluded without any further incident.
Yesterday’s pace-setter Norris was just under two tenths of a second slower than the Mercedes. Behind Saninz and Verstappen, Leclerc was sixth followed by Oscar Piastri. Fernando Alonso, Perez and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
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2024 British Grand Prix third practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’37.529 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 1’37.564 | 0.035 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’37.714 | 0.185 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’38.139 | 0.610 |
| 5 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’38.393 | 0.864 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’38.454 | 0.925 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’38.654 | 1.125 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’38.940 | 1.411 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’39.284 | 1.755 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’39.340 | 1.811 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’39.603 | 2.074 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’39.700 | 2.171 |
| 13 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’39.702 | 2.173 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’39.820 | 2.291 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’40.242 | 2.713 |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’40.430 | 2.901 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’40.539 | 3.010 |
| 18 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’40.823 | 3.294 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’41.785 | 4.256 |
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | No time |
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2024 British Grand Prix combined practice times
| P. | # | Driver | Team | FP1 time | FP2 time | FP3 time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’27.420 | 1’26.549 | 1’37.714 | 0 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’27.631 | 1’26.880 | 1’38.654 | 0.331 | 0 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’26.983 | 1’39.284 | 0.434 | 0 | |
| 4 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1’28.082 | 1’26.990 | 1’39.340 | 0.441 | 0 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’27.903 | 1’27.150 | 1’38.454 | 0.601 | 0 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’27.858 | 1’27.202 | 1’37.564 | 0.653 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’27.729 | 1’27.233 | 1’38.393 | 0.684 | 0 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’27.925 | 1’27.249 | 1’38.139 | 0.700 | 0 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’27.554 | 1’27.274 | 1’39.700 | 0.725 | 0 |
| 10 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’27.738 | 1’27.294 | 1’37.529 | 0.745 | 0 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’27.794 | 1’27.372 | 1’38.940 | 0.823 | 0 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.254 | 1’27.381 | 1’40.242 | 0.832 | 0 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.649 | 1’27.645 | 1’39.603 | 1.096 | 0 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’27.732 | No time | 1.183 | 0 | |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’27.974 | 1’27.743 | 1’40.430 | 1.194 | 0 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1’29.864 | 1’27.745 | 1’39.820 | 1.196 | 0 |
| 17 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1’27.809 | 1’39.702 | 1.260 | 0 | |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.590 | 1’27.813 | 1’41.785 | 1.264 | 0 |
| 19 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 1’28.477 | 1’27.916 | 1’40.823 | 1.367 | 0 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’28.122 | 1’40.539 | 1.573 | 0 | |
| 21 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | 1’28.536 | 1.987 | 0 | ||
| 22 | 61 | Jack Doohan | Alpine-Renault | 1’28.735 | 2.186 | 0 | ||
| 23 | 45 | Franco Colapinto | Williams-Mercedes | 1’29.078 | 2.529 | 0 | ||
| 24 | 37 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’29.270 | 2.721 | 0 |
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2024 British Grand Prix
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Jere (@jerejj)
6th July 2024, 12:43
Ricciardo’s actions were risky, given people’s proximity & wet asphalt surface, & fast lanes simply are unsuitable places for tyre warming in any case.
Nick T.
6th July 2024, 13:06
Oh please. He wasn’t trying to warm his tires. He was checking a steering column issue. They’re going so slow, gentle weaving isn’t dangerous.
Nick T.
6th July 2024, 13:09
He was checking his steering column. Not trying to warm his tires. Going that slowly and gently moving the wheels is not dangerous. It’s just this new era where everything must be investigated.
anon
6th July 2024, 13:47
Nick T., but if Ricciardo was returning to the pits at the time, why would he need to check his steering column in the pit lane when he could have done that on track? Why not also ask his mechanics to take a look at the car, or ask the pit wall for telemetry data if he thought there was an issue? Your explanation does not make any sense and, if anything, comes across as even more of a dumb idea.
Nick T.
6th July 2024, 13:53
lol, pretty funny you say that since that was the assessment of Palmer, Brundle (Jr.) and an engineer. But I’m sure you know a lot more than them.
Further, the idea he’d be warning his tires when he’s pulling into the garage seems even more of a “dumb” idea to me. You think the idea was to keep his tea warm on the tire?
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
6th July 2024, 12:55
I’m sure Max isn’t to worried just yet ;)
Sargeant is doing very well this weekend isn’t he?
Nick T.
6th July 2024, 13:50
Well, I think Max is going to get lucky with quali looking like it’ll be dry because the Mercedes looks unbeatable in the wet with their low speed strength and not having to worry about their large but inefficient level of downforce hurting them in high speed areas. It’ll really be a shame if we don’t get a wet quali. It looks like we’ve got a great chance of a wet race though.
He was doing well last weekend too in terms of pace vs Albon and it was the first weekend that he had a car this season close in spec to Alex. So, they’ve done him a disservice this season. And, hey, he out qualified Checo two rounds in a row. ; )
Nick T.
6th July 2024, 13:07
Not much of a Max fan, but no one exits a spin more beautifully. It’s like watching ballet.