Home F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen heads Perez in a wet FP3 session

Belgian GP: Verstappen heads Perez in a wet FP3 session

28/08/2021

Red Bull ended up with a 1-2 finish in F1 Belgian GP with Max Verstappen from Sergio Perez, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was third.

It was proper wet running in FP3 of F1 Belgian GP as unlike the first two sessions, none could use the slick tyres in the third session, which was dominated by the intermediate tyres, where the Haas duo tried the full wet-weather tyres for one run.

In fact, McLaren’s Lando Norris tried to use the soft tyre towards the end, but didn’t risk it on a pace lap. At the front, it was a Red Bull 1-2, with Max Verstappen (1m56.924s) leading Sergio Perez (1m57.871s), as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m57.996s) was P3.

Verstappen ended his run early as Hamilton had a small off among others. Norris (1m58.509s) was fourth in the order from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m58.913s), with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m59.205s) in sixth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m59.324s).

The Frenchman had a slightly bigger spin towards the end, sliding through the grass, as the Top 10 was rounded out by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m59.436s), Williams’ George Russell (1m59.492s) and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m59.613s).

All the above three had small offs in greasy conditions at different times, as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was 11th from Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Haas’ Mick Schumacher in the Top 15.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was 16th after the team had to prepare a new chassis for the Monegasque due to his FP2 crash. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda ended up 17th, having had a minor off too, with Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in 18th. Haas’ Nikita Mazepin was 19th from Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, who missed much of the session due to an early brake issues.