Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc maintained his position atop the timesheets as he set the quickest time during final practice for Formula 1’s German Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc set two times quick enough for top spot in much cooler and cloudier conditions at Hockenheim compared to Friday’s heat-soaked day. Leclerc’s best of 1:12.380 left him 0.168s clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel placed third.
Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton set a time good enough for fourth but he was one of several drivers to lose a lap after an overnight clampdown on track limits. Drivers have been told not to exceed the edge of the blue-and-white kerbs at Turns 1 and 17, and Hamilton fell foul of the latter, leaving him down in sixth spot.
Valtteri Bottas was fourth, half a second behind Charles Leclerc, while Kevin Magnussen was a surprise fifth for Haas, just 0.003s down on Bottas, as he split the Mercedes drivers.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh while Pierre Gasly had another subdued showing in the second Red Bull car, classifying eighth, eight-tenths behind Verstappen. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Haas’ Romain Grosjean – still running the Melbourne-spec car – rounded out the top 10.
In a closely-contested session just 1.4s covered the leader from the back of the midfield, while seventh-placed Sainz Jr. was only half a second clear of Daniel Ricciardo, who occupied 18th. Within that group, but outside of the top 10, were Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi, Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat and Ricciardo.
Williams remained substantially cut adrift at the rear of the pack.
Both drivers ran with the updated aerodynamic components while Robert Kubica used the spare chassis after the team detected damage late on Friday evening.
Kubica beat George Russell by three-tenths of a session but the Pole’s best effort was 1.7s down on Ricciardo, and over three seconds in arrears of leader Charles Leclerc.
Qualifying for the German Grand Prix is scheduled for 15:00 local time.
Germany – Practice 3
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull | |||
| 3 |  Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | |||
| 4 |  Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | |||
| 5 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas | |||
| 6 |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |||
| 7 |  Carlos Sainz | McLaren | |||
| 8 |  Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | |||
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | |||
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | |||
| 11 |  Sergio Perez | Racing Point | |||
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | |||
| 13 |  Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | |||
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | |||
| 15 |  Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | |||
| 16 |  Lance Stroll | Racing Point | |||
| 17 |  Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | |||
| 18 |  Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | |||
| 19 |  Robert Kubica | Williams | |||
| 20 | George Russell | Williams |
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