F1 Belgian GP: Red Bull's Max Verstappen a second clear in wet final practice
Heavy rain overnight and on Saturday morning left the Spa-Francorchamps circuit soaked and resulted in all the drivers𓄧 completing their final hour of 𒁏practice running on Pirelli’s intermediate tyres in changeable and challenging conditions.
Verstappen set the♔ pace with a 1m56.924s to end FP3 0.947s faster than Perez, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton was over a second off his main title rival’s benchmark in third.
Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren and took the surprising decision to attempt a lap on slick tyres in the closing moments of the session despite track cond💦itions being nowhere near ready f꧋or the crossover from wets to dries.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was nearly two seconds down in fifth, ahead of Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Sebastia🔯n Vettel.
George Russell put his Williams inside the top 10 wi𒁃th a lap good enough for P9, a ten꧟th clear of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine.
Birthday boy Valtteri Bottas was only 11th in the final F🅰P3 order, some 1.6s down on his M🅺ercedes teammate.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen propped up the timesheets and was restricted to just three laps of running before he reported suffering a brake f�🍨�ailure.
Rain is forecast to continue throughout the rest of the day at Spa and is likely to affect qualifying, which takes place at 1500 local ti🧜me (1400 BST).
Results from final practice at the 2021 F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Lewi♚s regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells thꦿe stories of the people who matter in the sport.
