British GP: Charles Leclerc tops final practice as red flag halts session

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the final practice session of the British Grand Prix which ended early under red flag.

Leclerc set a laptime of 1:25.498, 0.068 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri as second quickest and Max Verstappen a further 0.019 behind.

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was left stranded in the gravel with broken suspension after spinning over the grass and apex, ending the session with a few minutes remaining.

The red flag also came out earlier in the session as bodywork from Haas rookie Oliver Bearman’s car was on the track but resumed a few minutes later.

Bearman also crashed into the barriers at the end of the session on the entry into the pitlane leaving debris on the track. The Briton blamed “cold brakes” on the radio.

The final stoppage put paid to anyone trying to improve on Leclerc’s time, including Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton who ended up only 11th.

Hamilton had been quicker than Leclerc in the first two sectors before aborting the final one after the red flags were waved as a result of Bearman’s debris on track.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, 15 points adrift of Piastri after 11 of 24 rounds, was fourth fastest with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda fifth.

Alex Albon was seventh for Williams, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and teammate Liam Lawson completing the top 10.

Aston Martin said neither of their drivers had managed to do a representative lap on the fastest soft tyre due to the red flags.

Qualifying for Sunday’s race, Hamilton’s first at home in Ferrari colours, follows later in the afternoon.

Seven-times world champion Hamilton, a record nine-time British GP winner, won last year for Mercedes.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.