Max Verstappen was fastest in third practice for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver set a 21.631 in mixed conditions going a tenth and a half faster than the Mercedes of George Russell. Verstappen set his fastest time on the inters given the wet conditions
Verstappen underlined his status as the favourite for Qualifying later on Saturday at his home Grand Prix by outpacing Mercedes’ Russell and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman has a five-race win lead over Sergio Perez, and is seeking a record-equalling ninth successive race win, once more showcased his and the RB19’s ability to lead in all conditions.
But he’s not immune to mistakes, a error at the end of the session saw him go wide and brush the barrier at Hans Ernst, but no drama as he ran across the gravel.
Russell spilt the two Red Bull’s on his final run going just over eight tenths faster than Sergio Perez, as the track started to develop a dry line. But conditions were treacherous resulting in several red and yellow flags, that didn’t stop Verstappen going fastest. Fernando Alonso was fourth, the Aston Martin nine hundredths faster than Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon.
McLaren looked strong as well, they were first to show the conditions were improving Lando Norris fastest as the session entered the final third. Norris trading places with teammate Oscar Piastri, before Verstappen went fastest. Piastri settled for seventh a tenth and a half behind Albon with Valtteri Bottas eighth, Charles Leclerc ninth, and Norris tenth.
Ferrari once again looked to struggle for pace, Leclerc nearly a second and a half off the pace as he avoided two collisions after getting caught out at Tarzan. While Carlos Sainz was twelfth.
Verstappen wasn’t the only driver making mistakes Kevin Magnussen crashed early on bringing out the red flag, losing the rear at Hugenholtz on in his out-lap on the intermediate tyres to dump his car into the exit wall. Guanyu Zhou was next spinning and beaching the Alfa Romeo at Kumho.
Liam Lawson was eighteenth, the Kiwi makes his debut following Daniel Ricciardo’s crash in FP2 yesterday. But he was another driver to bring out the red flag, at the final corner Aire Luyendyk, he touched the kerb sending him into a spin.
More rain is set to fall throughout the afternoon in the Dutch coastal town, but the forecast suggests the rain will ease around the time that Qualifying begins. That could make for an action-packed session, where being out on track at the right time will be key
Related
- Daniel Ricciardo to miss Dutch Grand Prix and possibly several after a broken wrist in FP2 crash
- DUTCH GP – Lando Norris fastest two hundredths faster than Max Verstappen in second practice
- DUTCH GP – Max Verstappen fastest by a quarter of a second from Fernando Alonso in first practice
- Welcome to the Dutch Grand Prix – 2023
- Analysis | Max Verstappen & Red Bull, records and stats on 2023 so far
- PRIXVIEW – Dutch Grand Prix
