FP3: Verstappen sets pace in wet final practice

F1 Grand Prix, GP Netherlands, Circuit Park Zandvoort

Double world champion Max Verstappen set the pace in a wet final practice at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix, edging out Mercedes driver George Russell. AlphaTauri's debutant Liam Lawson finished the session in P18.

Following great conditions on Friday, drivers were greeted by a wet track on Saturday morning, as heavy rain hit the circuit right before the session got underway, with more arriving during FP3. The challenging conditions meant that the final one-hour session was heavily interrupted by three red flags.

The session was first red flagged when Kevin Magnussen spun into the barrier at Turn 3. The Dane's Haas picked up significant damage which meant that he was unable to limp back to pit and was forced to miss the final practice instead.

The second red flag came out when Zhou Guanyu beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel at the final corner. His car appeared to be intact, although the Chinese driver was unable to get his Alfa Romeo out of the gravel trap.

Filling in for Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian broke a bone in his hand after his crash in FP2, Red Bull and AlphaTauri reserve driver Liam Lawson needed a clean session to get used to his new car and the challenging Zandvoort circuit. However, his first outing was marked by an incident which saw the New Zealander spin his AlphaTauri into the barrier at Turn 14. Despite damage to his front wing, he was able to continue on into the pits. The incident brought out the third and final red flag.

Mercedes driver George Russell was unable to impress yesterday, but he appeared to be very quick on damp conditions, finishing in P2 just three tenths of a second behind. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton appeared to struggle for pace in the final practice, but he displayed encouraging pace on his very last lap, ending up fifth fastest right behind his championship rival Fernando Alonso.

After displaying eye-catching performance in Free Practice 2, Alex Albon was sixth-quickest for Williams, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc recovered from his multiple off-track excursions at Turn 1 t to take 9th with McLaren’s Lando Norris rounding out the top-10 order.

Racking up a total of 26 laps, F1 debutant Liam Lawson, who is standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, finished 18th while his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda took 13th for AlphaTauri.