Hamilton fastest in tight final practice

2017 British Grand Prix third practice

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Lewis Hamilton was quickest in final practice for the British Grand Prix, less than a tenth faster than both Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton’s 1’28.063 was the fastest time of the weekend so far, only 0.032s faster than Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari with Valtteri Bottas just 0.074s behind.

A late rain shower prevented the field from making a final qualifying simulation run in the closing minutes.

It was another windy session as drivers prepared for qualifying at Silverstone. Super Soft tyres were the order of the day, with Hamilton using them to good effect to lower the fastest lap of the session.

Sebastian Vettel showed that Ferrari are a threat by posting a time less than half a tenth slower than Hamilton’s.

Rain began to sprinkle the Silverstone circuit with around 15 minutes remaining of the session, clearing the track of cars.

Drivers opted to venture out on the Intermediate tyres in the closing minutes to test out the greasy conditions. It was almost a disastrous decision for Daniel Ricciardo who spun his Red Bull exiting Club corner and almost collected the barriers.

At the chequered flag, Hamilton topped the time sheets ahead of Vettel and Bottas with Kimi Raikkonen in fourth and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg an impressive fifth fastest.

PositionDriverTeamLap time
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’28.063
2Sebastian VettelFerrari1’28.095
3Valtteri BottasMercedes1’28.137
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’28.732
5Nico HulkenbergRenault1’29.480
6Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1’29.612
7Romain GrosjeanHaas1’29.819
8Max VerstappenRed Bull1’29.904
9Felipe MassaWilliams1’29.959
10Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1’30.088
11Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1’30.138
12Esteban OconForce India1’30.172
13Kevin MagnussenHaas1’30.270
14Jolyon PalmerRenault1’30.302
15Sergio PerezForce India1’30.416
16Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1’30.504
17Carlos SainzToro Rosso1’30.515
18Pascal WehrleinSauber1’30.621
19Marcus EricssonSauber1’30.630
20Lance StrollWilliams1’31.358

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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2 comments on “Hamilton fastest in tight final practice”

  1. Wasn’t able to watch. Were the times of everyone real qualifying runs? Red Bull seem quite slow.

    1. No. From what I’ve watched, regarding red bull, Only Ricciardo had a qualifying sim. Max came out when it was already raining, so his qualifying sim was aborted. Still they don’t seem to have found their setup yet.

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