Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Leclerc the fastest!
Charles Leclerc finished first in this third free practice session. He is ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen.
After 10 minutes of the session, Sergio Perez was the only driver to have completed laps. On soft tires, the Mexican’s best time was over a second slower than Charles Leclerc’s benchmark in Free Practice 2. After dominating the Belgian Grand Prix, the Red Bulls seemed surprisingly less comfortable on the Zandvoort circuit.
The local hero of the Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, went out after 10 minutes of the session and immediately took the top spot on the timesheet with a time of 1’12’196. His title rival, Charles Leclerc, was 5 tenths behind the Dutchman.
18th in the ranking of Free Practice 3, Daniel Ricciardo was still struggling to tame his McLaren on the Zandvoort circuit. The Australian driver was over a second slower than his teammate Lando Norris. With 26 minutes remaining, the former Red Bull driver had a small excursion into the gravel at turn 12 after missing the apex. Fortunately for the number 3 driver, this little off-track moment didn’t seem to have caused any damage to his car.
With 20 minutes remaining, Alexander Albon was impressing by placing his modest Williams in third position. The Thai driver had the record for the last sector. After his tenth position in Belgium, could Albon finish in the points for the fourth time this season? Nicholas Latifi was 9 tenths behind his garage neighbor. It is crucial for the Canadian to get closer to Albon’s times if he wants to keep his seat in 2023.
At the end of the session, the Ferraris finally decided to show what they had in them. First, Carlos Sainz took back the fastest lap from Max Verstappen with a 1’11’976, two tenths faster than the Dutchman. Then, his teammate Charles Leclerc took the top spot in this session with a 1’11’632. The battle for pole position looks tight between the Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes drivers. Leclerc, Russell, and Verstappen are separated by less than two tenths.
Pierre Gasly had a minor scare at the 11th turn. The French driver lost control of his car and narrowly avoided crashing into the barriers by just a few centimeters.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’11’632 | 20 | |
| 2 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’11’698 | +0.066 | 24 |
| 3 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1’11’793 | +0.161 | 22 |
| 4 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’11’971 | +0.339 | 17 |
| 5 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’12’156 | +0.524 | 25 |
| 6 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1’12’327 | +0.695 | 29 |
| 7 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1’12’491 | +0.859 | 16 |
| 8 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’12’491 | +0.859 | 25 |
| 9 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1’12’558 | +0.926 | 15 |
| 10 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1’12’591 | +0.959 | 18 |
| 11 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1’12’606 | +0.974 | 15 |
| 12 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’12’773 | +1.141 | 18 |
| 13 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1’12’775 | +1.143 | 18 |
| 14 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1’13’003 | +1.371 | 20 |
| 15 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1’13’046 | +1.414 | 23 |
| 16 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1’13’256 | +1.624 | 22 |
| 17 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1’13’299 | +1.667 | 20 |
| 18 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’13’359 | +1.727 | 15 |
| 19 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’13’421 | +1.789 | 14 |
| 20 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1’13’625 | +1.993 | 22 |
