Verstappen clear of Russell in chaotic wet final practice
The reigning world champion was 0.379s faster than Mercedes’ George Russell but could have held an even greater margin over the field without a trip through the gravel on his final flying lap.
Sergio Perez was third-fastest in the second Red Bull, but was exactly a second slower than teammate Verstappen.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth respectively for Aston Martin and Mercedes.
Alex Albon was sixth-quickest for Williams, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top-10 order.
Kevin Magnussen was the first of several drivers to be caught out in the tricky wet conditions, with the Haas driver spinning into the Turn 3 barriers just 10 minutes into FP3.
A second red flag was caused when Zhou Guanyu looped his Alfa Romeo into the gravel and became beached.
F1 debutant Liam Lawson, who is standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, finished 18th fastest but also triggered the third and final red flag when he spun his AlphaTauri out of the penultimate corner.
