Charles Leclerc led the way in FP3 at the British GP, edging out Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen in a tightly contested session.
What happened on Friday of the British GP?
Friday practice at the British GP saw McLaren and Ferrari emerge as the key contenders, with Lando Norris topping FP2 with a blistering 1:25.816, continuing McLaren’s strong 2025 form. Ferrari followed closely, with Cboth drivers looking more comfortable with recent upgrades to the SF-25. Lewis Hamilton, fastest in FP1, showed strong pace throughout the day but ultimately trailed in FP2 after a scrappy soft-tyre run.
McLaren’s dominance was once again clear, particularly from Norris, who delivered three purple sectors on his soft-tyre run, finishing 0.3s clear of the Ferraris. Red Bull struggled to keep pace, with RB’s Isack Hadjar outperforming Verstappen.
Start to FP3
The final practice session at the British GP got underway five minutes late, with Pierre Gasly leading the field out on soft tyres. After a difficult Friday, Alpine appeared to be bedding in set-up changes, opting for early running while most teams waited for improved track conditions. The team continued to struggle, however, with their pace still lacking.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll began their sessions on medium tyres, running at low speed to scrub sets for the race. Stroll later had a dramatic moment at Luffield, narrowly avoiding a spin and flat-spotting his front tyres, an echo of his issues on Friday.
Williams remained in the garage for much of the session, following a late-night engine change after a poor showing on Friday. Meanwhile, the session began to liven up as a flurry of drivers, including Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, and Piastri, emerged on softs.
Leclerc briefly led the timing sheets before Verstappen narrowly pipped him by just 0.005s. Hamilton, who had set his lap earlier, fell to third. Norris struggled to match their pace, trailing by half a second in fourth. Piastri improved on his second flying lap, edging closer to his team-mate but still nearly eight tenths off Verstappen.
George Russell injected further excitement into the session, slotting into the top four and suggesting Mercedes might be more competitive in the cooler conditions. Just 0.165 seconds covered the top four runners—Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Russell—before a notable gap to Norris and the rest of the field.
Tyre strategy varied across the grid. While McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull ran softs, Racing Bulls opted for hards, with Haas, Aston Martin, and Williams running mediums. Wind levels remained similar to Friday, continuing to challenge several drivers.
Into the second half of the session
Kicking off the second half of the session at the British GP, Kimi Antonelli climbed to third on his second push lap, though he remained over half a second off the pace. Charles Leclerc led the phase with a 1:25.992. Just a tenth shy of Norris’ FP2 benchmark. Hamilton followed at +0.410s, with Bearman impressively third (+0.679s) despite being on medium tyres.
A slight error from Hamilton at Vale, where he clipped too much kerb, cost him valuable time and dropped him to fourth behind Leclerc, Verstappen, and Russell. Leclerc’s lap was looking more impressive as the session progressed, though he soon returned to the garage for attention to his car. Meanwhile, Antonelli reported a big moment on his last push lap and sat fifth.
Traffic began to play a role as the track filled up. Verstappen encountered Gasly mid-lap, offering a sarcastic thumbs up, while Albon voiced frustration over a slow-moving Aston Martin near the racing line. With parts of the circuit offering limited visibility, several drivers were caught out.
Mercedes opted to run their second soft-tyre stint early, but Russell locked up on his out-lap. Despite that, he jumped to second, just 0.203s behind Leclerc. Antonelli, who had a rapid first sector, lost time later in the lap and stayed fifth.
As Norris rejoined on fresh softs, the times began to tumble. He surged to the top with a 1:25.606, only for Piastri to go even quicker moments later, edging ahead by just 0.040s thanks to a strong third sector, finally putting the Australian firmly in the pole position conversation.
Red flag
Verstappen responded with a blistering first sector but couldn’t maintain the momentum, slotting into second, a mere 0.019s behind Piastri. Meanwhile, Sainz remained on his older medium tyres and ran wide at Copse.
With under ten minutes remaining, Ferrari responded. Leclerc returned to the top with a 1:25.498, though the gap to Piastri remained tight at just 0.068s. Tsunoda and Albon both improved on their second soft-tyre runs, going fifth and sixth respectively.
Hamilton was on a strong lap, having gone purple in sector one and set a personal best in sector two, but was forced to abort before completing it. His efforts were cut short by a red flag, caused by a small piece of debris at Stowe that needed to be cleared by marshals.
The final laps
The final minutes of FP3 were disrupted by a late red flag that threw a spanner into the works for several drivers hoping to complete one final flying lap. While there was technically enough time for another run, heavy traffic proved a challenge, with George Russell locking up while navigating through a group of slower cars.
Just as some drivers attempted to squeeze in last-minute improvements, the session came to an abrupt end when Gabriel Bortoleto crashed, bringing out a second red flag. The rookie suffered front-left damage but, reassuringly, was moving in the car and able to climb out unaided.
With no time left to restart, Bortoleto’s crash brought FP3 at the British GP to a close, potentially distorting the final running order and leaving some teams with unanswered questions heading into qualifying.
Driving into the pitlane during the Red Flag, Ollie Bearman endured a moment as well, colliding with the barriers going into the pits.
Final results of FP3 at the British GP
- Charles Leclerc
- Oscar Piastri
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Oliver Bearman
- Alex Albon
- George Russell
- Isack Hadjar
- Liam Lawson
- Lewis Hamilton
- Carlos Sainz
- Esteban Ocon
- Kimi Antonelli
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Fernando Alonso
- Franco Colapinto
- Lance Stroll
- Pierre Gasly
