Ferrari FP3 report: Charles Leclerc P3, Carlos Sainz P6

Ferrari FP3 report: Charles Leclerc P3, Carlos Sainz P6 | 2022 F1 British GP. Ferrari FP3 report.

Rain was expected at any moment ahead of the final free practice session for the 2022 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit, which explains why we saw cars switching to softs already for their flying laps after just a few minutes.

Scuderia Ferrari continued their preparations for the qualifying session, as Charles Leclerc went fastest with a 1:29.452, three tenths quicker than Carlos Sanz. The pace ramped up during this hour, particularly as conditions weren’t the greatest yesterday. Charles Leclerc had a big snap on first lap too, grazing the gravel. Encouraging start for Lewis Hamilton, too: his first lap sees him just three tenths off the Monegasque driver, losing a tenth in every sector. But soon there was purple sectors galore from Charles Leclerc and he lowered his benchmark to a 1:29.021 – still a little bit slower than we saw yesterday. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton also improved, with Perez within a tenth of Charles and Hamilton just two-tenths off.

Max Verstappen was late out of the pits but was very fast on his very first flying lap, half a second clear of Charles, while there was better news from the updated forecast, as no rain was predicted expected for the next 30 minutes, which meant drivers were able to continue running until the end of the session.

After 30 minutes, Lewis Hamilton moved up to second with his latest lap, which was a couple of tenths off Max Verstappen’s new benchmark – a 1:28.498. The Ferrari drivers also improved, but they were three tenths off the Red Bull, while George Russell was fourth, not far behind.

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc momentarily narrowed Max Verstappen’s lead to just two thousandths of a second, but Max Verstappen’s next lap is 0.485s clear of his title rival, with his half-a-second lead from earlier reinstated. Unfortunately it was starting to look a little ominous for everyone other than Red Bull! Sergio Perez went second behind team-mate Max Verstappen, albeit a full 0.4s back from the Dutchman, making it seemingly difficult for Ferrari to compete with the Red Bulls here.

He had a very quiet Friday by his lofty standards but this last hour has proved that Max Verstappen is still very much the favourite this weekend. Therfore advantage Max Verstappen and Red Bull, with Charles Leclerc the lead Ferrari in third and Mercedes in the hunt in fourth and fifth. It’s set up rather nicely for what could very well be a wet qualifying later today.

Practice 3 final timesheet