Verstappen dominance continues in rain-hit FP3 as Sargeant shunts
The teams wasted no time getting some dry-weather qualifying simulation running in at the start of final practice, with nearby rain and lightning threatening to disrupt the session.
Verstappen posted a 1m13.664s to head the timesheets, 0.250s clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez before Sargeant’s crash interrupted FP3 and rain hit.
Sargeant lost control of his Williams coming out of the revised, faster final corner and ended up in the tyre barriers following a trip through the gravel.
The rain arrived during the subsequent red flag suspension, ruining any hope of completing more dry running and leaving an air of mystery surrounding the true competitive order heading into qualifying.
After a difficult opening day of practice, Lewis Hamilton improved to third in his upgraded Mercedes, with the seven-time world champion 0.408s adrift of Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz was fourth-fastest for Ferrari, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, George Russell’s Mercedes and teammate Charles Leclerc.
Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris completed the rest of the top-10 order for Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and McLaren respectively.
