F1 British GP: Charles Leclerc sets new benchmark as Alex Albon continues to shine for Williams in final practice
Charles Leclerc set the pace before rain hit in final practice at the F1 British Grand Prix, while Alex Albon continued to impress for Williams.
After an electrical problem kept him in the garage for the entirety of FP2, Leclerc posted the fastest time of the weekend so far at Silverstone to put his Ferrari top of the timesheets.
It marked the first time since Q2 at the Canadian Grand Prix that Max Verstappen has not finished a session with the quickest time.
Having finished third-fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions, Albon once again starred in his Williams to produce a lap that was just 0.173s slower than Leclerc’s benchmark.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was third, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was half a second adrift.
The seven-time world champion briefly delighted his home crowd by going fastest, before ultimately being shuffled down to fifth.
Mercedes had reserve driver Mick Schumacher in their simulator until 2am as they looked to resolve their set-up struggles during a tricky opening day of running on Friday.
Carlos Sainz was sixth for Ferrari, while Logan Sargeant ensured both Williams featured inside the top-10.
World champion Verstappen was eighth-fastest but only ran on the medium tyres before rain hit in the final half an hour.
George Russell put his Mercedes ninth, while Yuki Tsunoda shaded AlphaTauri teammate Nyck de Vries to complete the top-10.
Qualifying for Sunday’s British Grand Prix takes place at 3pm.
