British GT News: Russell Snatches Fastest Time in Wet Silverstone FP3
Silverstone, UK – In a dramatic turn of events at the British Grand Prix, George Russell of the Mercedes Formula 1 team secured the fastest time in a wet FP3 session, edging out his teammate Lewis Hamilton by a mere 0.035 seconds.
Despite the challenging conditions, with a red flag and persistent precipitation throughout the session, Russell managed to push his car to the limit and clinch the top spot on the timesheets. His time of 1m37.529s was over 10 seconds slower than the dry conditions from Friday, but it was enough to outpace the seven-time world champion Hamilton, who set a time of 1m37.564s.
The wet and cold weather had set the stage for a thrilling FP3 session at the historic Silverstone circuit. Early running was cautious, but as the track started to improve, the lap times began to tumble. Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri set the first sub-1m50s lap, before being surpassed by the likes of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.
“The session was briefly interrupted by a red flag after Pierre Gasly’s Alpine car beached in the gravel at the Vale corner. However, the action resumed, and the times continued to improve, with Oscar Piastri going more than two seconds quicker than Tsunoda’s pre-pause effort.”
As the rain started to intensify, the drivers switched to race-style runs, with the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton trading the fastest times. Ultimately, it was the younger Russell who emerged victorious, pushing his car to the limit and securing a crucial advantage heading into the qualifying session later today.
Lando Norris of McLaren rounded out the top three, 0.185s adrift of Russell’s benchmark, while Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and Max Verstappen of Red Bull completed the top five.
With the unpredictable weather conditions expected to continue throughout the weekend, the British Grand Prix is shaping up to be an exciting affair for fans of the prestigious Formula 1 championship.
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