British GP – EL3: Leclerc in the lead, Alpine in distress

There are four of them in a handkerchief. Charles Leclerc, best time of EL3, at Lando Norris, 4th, only 0.108s separate four single-seaters: the Ferrari, both McLaren and Red Bull de Verstappen are on a par, relegating the fifth to more than half a second. The ranking, however, does not do justice to Lewis Hamilton, eleventh after being red-flagged at the end of the session. While he was on a fast lap – 0.074s ahead of Leclerc after two sectors – the Briton was forced to abort his attempt when race control raised the red flag due to debris on the track.

Oliver Bearman lost a part at turn 15, raising fears of damage to a car who would have driven over it. Once the track was quickly cleared, the drivers were able to resume the track with just over three minutes on the clock before being interrupted again due to Gabriel Bortoleto going off track during the Maggots – Becketts – Chapel sequence. Oliver Bearman also made a big mistake by missing his braking at the entrance to the pit lane under red flag conditions. The Briton lost control and hit the wall, leaving a coin – once again – on the asphalt. The driver Haas however had a good session, finishing in 6th place in the classification in the time of Yuki tsunoda, fifth.

Alpine worry 

On the other hand, the last hour of driving was much less brilliant for Alpine, which confirms the immense difficulties seen since the beginning of the weekend. The French team seems completely lost, lacking solutions to offer a stable car to its drivers. Pierre Gasly spent most of the hour in the pit lane, leaving his mechanics to work on his car, trying to find a miracle cure for precarious balance and minimal grip.

By changing the ride height of the No. 10 car with 10 minutes left in the session, the French team clearly sent a very worrying signal just over two hours into qualifying. Making it out of Q1 already seems like an ambitious goal, but anything is still possible in such a tight field where 16 cars finished within a second of each other.

See you at 16 p.m. for qualifying, to be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. The three practice sessions suggest a five-way battle for pole position between the McLarens, the Ferraris, and Max Verstappen, equipped with a more powerful car than Friday. As is often the case at Red Bull, the weekend is a linear progression in understanding the RB21 and optimizing the setup. Will it even lead to an unexpected pole position?

F1 – British GP 

The ranking of Free Practice 3