The sun was still shining on Friday in training for the British GP. Silverstone experienced a hot summer day. The announced weather change took place on Saturday. The air has cooled. At the start of the third practice session, the clouds only remained dense and dropped rain after about 25 minutes. So there was only a small time window for fast lap times for Formula 1 drivers.
Charles Leclerc used it most effectively. On soft tires (C3), the 25-year-old Monegasque drove his Ferrari around the 18 corners in 1:27.419 minutes. The cooler asphalt caused lap times to drop by more than half a second compared to the previous day. Leclerc has nothing to do with the best time. A fault in the electrical system had slowed down his Ferrari. It doesn’t seem to have really affected him. At least not on a fast lap. Leclerc certainly misses the long-term experiences.
For once, Max Verstappen wasn’t the fastest man on the set.
After the damage the day before, the Ferrari mechanics had to work hard. They even broke the curfew. The mechanics changed the entire wiring harness and the MGU-K at the same time. Ferrari also carried out this replacement of the electric motor of Carlos Sainz’s car. Last year’s winner finished the third practice session in sixth place. The Spaniard missed his teammate’s time by more than half a second.
For once, world champion Max Verstappen did not finish a session in first place. It was the tires. Unlike the competition, Red Bull opted for a ride with slightly harder medium tires. Even the best player of the season couldn’t help it. Verstappen, the only driver without C3 compound in the top 10, lost 0.847 seconds to the best time over the 5.891 kilometres. He scored eighth place. The second Red Bull with Sergio Perez at the wheel finished in 14th place.
Williams bites into the lead group. On Friday, Alexander Albon had already made people wince with two third places. In the last practice session before qualifying, the Thai even moved up one position. The Williams is obviously a very fast car at Silverstone. Equipped with a new front wing, Albon only lost 0.173 seconds. His teammate Logan Sargeant reached the top half of the table for the second time this weekend.
Fernando Alonso finished third in his Aston Martin.
Aston Martin used Friday as a test day to better understand the AMR23. In Canada, the weather intervened to properly evaluate the new package, in Austria the sprint format. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were therefore still on the road with different configurations. On Saturday, the Silverstone team rolled up the most promising parts.
After all, Alonso moved up to third on the soft tyres. The clock stopped for him 0.365 seconds later than Ferrari driver Leclerc. That a Williams is faster will annoy Aston Martin. Just like the pilots behind. Pierre Gasly brought his Alpine A523 back to fourth position. The Enstone-based racing team has yet to fine-tune the new parts. According to the radio messages, Gasly felt very comfortable on a wet track.
Mercedes looked for form in the first two practice sessions. The W14 was far too slow for a lap, but it excelled in endurance racing. The problem was the soft tyre, which Mercedes couldn’t tighten properly during qualifying practice. Reserve driver Mick Schumacher has been sent into the simulator to collect more data and gain new information that will feed into the setup.
Black cars with the stars on the carbon skin rose. Lewis Hamilton (5th) and George Russell (9th) claimed a top 10 spot which may be due to the cooler conditions. Mercedes certainly needs to push performance even further. Last place in the northern half of the table was taken by Yuki Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri.
The last 35 minutes became a test in the rain. Almost every rider has tested the Streamlined Intermediates. After all, it could continue to rain at Silverstone. Guanyu Zhou did not get involved. The Chinese has only completed two practice laps with his Alfa-Sauber, indicating a technical problem.
driver
crew
Time
Distance
Round
1.Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1:27.419
23
2. Alexander Albon
williams
1:27 592
+0.173s
13
3. Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
1:27 784
+ 0.365s
17
4. Pierre Gasly
Alpine
1:27 893
+0.474s
18
5. Lewis Hamilton
mercedes
1:27,948
+0.529s
15
6. Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
1:27,964
+ 0.545s
20
7. Logan Sargeant
williams
1:28.151
+0.732s
15
8. Max Verstappen
red bull
1:28.266
+0.847s
18
9.George Russel
mercedes
1:28.284
+0.865s
17
10. Yuki Tsunoda
Alpha Tauri
1:28.337
+0.918s
20
11. Nyck de Vries
Alpha Tauri
1:28.504
+ 1085s
20
12. Lando Norris
McLaren
1:28 563
+ 1144s
17
13. Start the walk
Aston Martin
1:28 620
+ 1201s
15
14.Sergio Perez
red bull
1:28.904
+ 1485s
18
15. Kevin Magnussen
haha
1:29.207
+ 1788s
12
16. Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1:29.233
+ 1814s
21
17.Oscar Piastri
McLaren
1:29.437
+ 2018s
20
18. Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
1:29 586
+ 2167s
15
19. Nico Hulkenberg
haha
1:33 590
+ 6171s
12
20.Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo
no time
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2
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2023 British GP (3rd practice): Leclerc on top
Medium tires for Verstappen
Albon before Alonso
Mercedes a bit better
2023 British GP – Practice Results 3
Ash Larson
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©Aston Martin