Verstappen quickest in washed out final practice

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped a rain-hit FP3 session for the Belgian Grand Prix, where Lance Stroll crashed and the officials suspended running due to the deluge.

Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly slotted into second and third ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren before the first disruption occurred with Stroll’s accident, with no action taking place thereafter.

Verstappen lined up at the end of the pitlane to hit the track as soon as the one-hour session got underway and he duly set the first place benchmark at 2m03.232 – some 20s slower than the quickest time in FP2 on Friday.

Verstappen continued on a four-lap run on the intermediates – working the leading time down to a 2m03.565s as the opening five minutes ended, to lead Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Norris.

The last named was one of two drivers to have an off at Turn 9 – the last part of Les Combes – and skate through the gravel, with McLaren later opting to change the floor on his MCL38 as a result.

The rain then intensified and the drivers stopped improving, then started trickling back to the pits, when Stroll crashed at Raidillon having lost the rear of his Aston Martin halfway up the hill from Eau Rouge.

The Canadian spun around having appeared to have aquaplaned, with his left-front smashing against the barriers underneath the giant grandstand at this spot, before Stroll pulled over a little way further one as the session was red flagged.

After a nearly 10-minute delay, the session resumed with two thirds remaining but given the conditions, the pack remained in the pits.

The next 15 minutes passed with no cars heading out and the rain continuing to stream down, race control stopped the session for a second time.

The medical car was sent around to assess the conditions shortly after the second red flag period began, but the session only got going again with two minutes remaining.

Right at the end, a handful of drivers – including Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen, who had not appeared during the early running – headed out on the extreme wet tyres, but with not enough time left to start a flying lap, the early order was preserved to the end.

During his out-lap, Sainz slipped off into the gravel at Turn 10, as Verstappen had nearly done right at the start of the session.

Behind the top four, Esteban Ocon led Charles Leclerc, with Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez rounding out the top 10.

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