The third and final free practice session (FP3) of the 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone has just concluded. Scuderia Ferrari confirmed the strong performance shown during Friday’s practice sessions, while McLaren appeared to be slightly behind, possibly holding something back ahead of qualifying.
The FP3 session was delayed by five minutes due to track cleaning operations, as marshals were called in to remove excessive marbles—small pieces of rubber debris—left behind by support series that had been running earlier. Weather conditions were uncertain throughout the session, and the ambient and track temperatures were significantly lower compared to Friday.
First 30 minutes
Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto and Frenchman Pierre Gasly were the first to take to the track at the start of this final free practice session before qualifying. Most other drivers chose to wait several minutes before joining the action. After about ten minutes, Lewis Hamilton began his on-track work on a set of soft compound tyres (red-banded), posting an early benchmark lap time of 1:27.351. Ferrari adopted a split program, with both drivers following different run plans.
Charles Leclerc, who began his first flying lap nearly 20 minutes into the session, immediately posted the fastest time, clocking in at 1:26.494. The Monegasque driver was narrowly ahead of Max Verstappen by just five thousandths of a second, and thirty-five thousandths ahead of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton. On their initial attempts, the McLaren cars did not impress—Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could only manage fifth and tenth positions, respectively.
On his second flying lap, Charles Leclerc improved significantly, lowering his best time to 1:25.922. This confirmed the strong impressions left by Ferrari’s performance on Friday and underlined the improved competitiveness of the SF-25 car.
Final 30 minutes
During the first half-hour of the session, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri seemed to struggle slightly in comparison to their form the previous day. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, on the other hand, appeared more comfortable in the cooler conditions. George Russell posted the third-fastest time overall, while young talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli, continuing his impressive debut campaign, was fifth fastest.
Max Verstappen experienced a scare during one of his flying laps. The Dutch driver and four-time world champion encountered traffic from an Alpine car, visibly disrupting his lap. Verstappen expressed clear frustration with the situation over team radio.
With 23 minutes remaining in the FP3 session, Charles Leclerc reported light rain on the track surface, adding a layer of uncertainty to the final part of the session.
In the last 15 minutes, all drivers switched focus to qualifying simulations. Lando Norris, on a fresh set of soft tyres, initially went fastest with a lap of 1:25.606. However, his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri quickly responded with an even quicker lap of 1:25.566. Max Verstappen pushed hard to challenge the McLarens but came up just short of Piastri’s benchmark, missing it by only 19 thousandths of a second. With ten minutes left on the clock, Charles Leclerc reclaimed the top spot with a marginal advantage over Piastri, showing once again Ferrari’s strong one-lap pace.
The session was brought to an early end by a red flag with only eight minutes remaining. At that moment, Lewis Hamilton was improving on his lap but was unable to complete it due to the interruption.
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