Verstappen leads Red Bull into double figures in TL3 at Silverstone

Max Verstappen set a frightening mark ahead of qualifying for the British GP with an exciting lap in the third and final free practice session.

The reigning world champion set a lap time of 1min27s901 to finish 0s410 ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc finished another half a tenth behind in third with Ferrari as the teams had a dry session despite the threat of rain in the weather forecast.

Verstappen set off alarm bells with a lap four-tenths faster than anyone else on his first lap of the session, but Lewis Hamilton soon struggled to stay within a tenth of the Dutchman.

Crucially for Mercedes, the quiques that have plagued the team's season so far, though not eradicated, were noticeably reduced over the course of the hour-long practice session - the W13 spun much more smoothly through the Copse, Maggotts, Becketts and Stowe curves compared to the Ferraris.

But as the track surface increased with the sun peeking out from behind the dark gray clouds that covered the Silverstone circuit, Verstappen asserted his dominance over his rivals.

George Russell finished ahead of teammate Hamilton with Mercedes fourth and fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz's second Ferrari. McLaren made a late switch to soft tires and saw Lando Norris jump to a best position in seventh, about five tenths down from the top six.

Valtteri Bottas finished eighth with Alfa Romeo, ahead of Haas' Mick Schumacher and Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who rounded out the top ten. But everything could change during qualifying, with the chance of rain set at 50 percent.

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