Home F1 British GP: Leclerc tops dry-to-wet FP3 from Albon, Alonso

British GP: Leclerc tops dry-to-wet FP3 from Albon, Alonso

08/07/2023

Charles Leclerc ended up fastest in FP3 of F1 British GP which ended wet, ahead of Alexander Albon and Fernando Alonso.

It was a dry start to FP3 session in F1 British GP but ended under wet conditions with them getting a taste of the intermediate tyres for potential damp qualifying later on. The dry conditions saw Ferrari’s Leclerc on top with a 1m27.419s lap.

Having missed FP2 due to electrical issue, Leclerc was quick to get upto speed and collect as much data for the grand prix ahead. Williams’ Albon (1m27.592s) continued his fine form in second despite an electrical issue after fire-up on Saturday morning.

Aston Martin’s Alonso (1m27.784s) ended up third from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fifth, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sixth ahead of the second Williams of Logan Sargeant who showed good pace like his teammate to validate the genuine form.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was only eighth since he set his best time on the medium tyres, with Mercedes’ George Russell slotting in ninth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. He led his teammate Nyck de Vries in 11th from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 13th from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who also set his best time on the medium tyres. The lead Haas of Kevin Magnussen slotted in 15th from the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in 17th.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was 18th as teammate Zhou Guanyu did not set a lap time due to a suspected issue. The Chinese only ran two laps in all which meant Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was the last car to set a lap time in 19th.

Like the Red Bull pair, the likes of Norris, Magnussen, Ocon and Hulkenberg set their best time on the medium compound, while Piastri and Bottas did so on the hard tyre. From Friday to Saturday, Ferrari put in a new MGU-K for both Leclerc and Sainz, as the Monegasque had a late spin where he was unharmed.

Here’s list of new PU element: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20British%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20New%20PU%20elements%20for%20this%20Competition_0.pdf