Verstappen looks better in final training on cooler Silverstone

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen performed better in Saturday’s final practice session for the British Grand Prix than on Friday. The Dutchman recorded the third fastest time on a cooled track.

Where it was around 25 degrees Celsius with sunshine on Friday, the temperature during the third practice session did not exceed 20 degrees Celsius. In combination with a thick cloud cover (and occasional drizzle), this resulted in a much colder track than on Friday. This influences the balance of power. Mercedes and Red Bull, in particular, benefit from lower temperatures.

Verstappen partly attributed his poor Friday to the strong winds, which had also subsided somewhat on Saturday. With his improved Red Bull, equipped with, among other things, a significantly modified floor, the Limburger was in contention at the front.

Charles Leclerc continued the line from Friday with Ferrari, which already showed speed in the first two practice sessions. The Monegasque clocked a 1.25.498. This made him just slightly faster than World Cup leader Oscar Piastri (+0.068) and Verstappen (+0.087).

Lando Norris was fourth, a tenth of a second behind Leclerc. Yuki Tsunoda gave a further indication of the speed at Red Bull. The Japanese driver recorded a strong fifth time for his standards, although he was half a second slower than his teammate.

Red flag thwarts Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton was even faster with the Ferrari, but a red flag threw a wrench in his plans. It was waved for a piece of Oliver Bearman’s Haas that was lying on the asphalt. This happened with ten minutes to go.

It turned out to be a prelude to more incidents. Gabriel Bortoleto bounced hard off the track in the Maggots-Becketts combination, with his Sauber just staying out of the tire stacks. Again, a red flag was waved. The times were therefore no longer improved.

The final piece came again from Bearman, who miscalculated while braking for the pit lane. The Brit lost control of his car and crashed into the wall, causing even more damage to his Haas.

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