Max Verstappen set the quickest time in wet conditions during the final practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The championship leader was over a second quicker than Oscar Piastri on intermediates as drivers only achieved a handful of laps in a wet session.Lance Stroll crashed at Eau Rouge, bringing out the red flag. Teams only managed to get a handful of laps in, with the session resuming for just the final two minutes.
Drivers were greeted by a soggy circuit for the start of the final hour of practice at Spa. While some opted for full wet tyres as they headed out, Verstappen was confident enough to take to the track on intermediates, which quickly proved to be the right tyres for the conditions.
Verstappen set the quickest time of the early running with a 2’01.565 on the intermediates, which was over a second quicker than Piastri in the McLaren. However, the rain increased in intensity and grip became harder to come by as water levels increased.
Just under 20 minutes into the session, Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin at through Eau Rouge and spun gently into the inside barrier at Raidillon, breaking the suspension on his left-front wheel. With Stroll unable to continue, practice was suspended with a red flag.
After a delay of just nine minutes, the session officially resumed. However, the rain had increased in intensity significantly, meaning that none of the teams opted to return their cars to the circuit in what was nearly now full wet conditions.
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This seemed a wise move as the rain only got heavier. Eventually, despite no cars being on track, conditions got so bad that race director Niels Wittich suspended the session again with another red flag.
The rain continued but it took until only two minutes were remaining in the session for practice to resume. Carlos Sainz Jnr, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon all chose to take to the track on wet tyres, but the bulk of the field remained safely in the garage.
There was no time to start a flying lap and the session ended moments later. Aside from a trip through the gravel at Bruxelles for Sainz, there were no other issues and all drivers took the chequered flag to end a largely unrepresentative session.
Verstappen was confirmed as fastest, ahead of Piastri and Pierre Gasly having set the third fastest time. Lando Norris was fourth ahead of Ocon in the second Alpine, with Charles Leclerc in sixth and Stroll seventh despite crashing. Bottas was eighth fastest, with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez completing the top ten.
Mercedes had opted to replace their revised floor for the rest of the weekend, reverting to a previous specification. George Russell was one of two drivers who failed to complete a timed lap in the hour, with Sainz the other. Ocon, Bottas, Tsunoda and Zhou completed the most laps of any, with all three getting just seven laps in in the wet conditions.
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2024 Belgian Grand Prix third practice result
P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 2’1.565 | |
2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 2’2.998 | 1.433 |
3 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 2’3.175 | 1.610 |
4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 2’3.372 | 1.807 |
5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 2’5.250 | 3.685 |
6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 2’6.033 | 4.468 |
7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 2’6.037 | 4.472 |
8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 2’6.492 | 4.927 |
9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 2’6.751 | 5.186 |
10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 2’7.103 | 5.538 |
11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 2’7.443 | 5.878 |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 2’8.040 | 6.475 |
13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 2’8.071 | 6.506 |
14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 2’8.410 | 6.845 |
15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 2’9.444 | 7.879 |
16 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 2’11.109 | 9.544 |
17 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 2’11.220 | 9.655 |
18 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | No time | |
19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | No time | |
20 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | No time |
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2024 Belgian Grand Prix
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