German GP – Charles Leclerc Tops Rain affected FP3

Charles Leclerc finished on top of the time charts at the German GP at the Hockenheimring circuit on Saturday. The 60-minute long third free practice session (FP3) started under overcast skies and light rain. The air temperature was 19 degrees C and the track temperature was 25 degrees C. The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is white-striped medium tyres, yellow-striped soft tyres, and purple-striped ultrasoft tyres.

Charles Leclerc Tops Rain affected FP3

The session started with the rain falling and it only got heavier. There was very little running for the first thirty minutes of the session. Later drivers started going out on the track. Most of them mainly did an installation lap.

The main takeaways from this session were:

  • Only nine drivers set timed laps.
  • Leclerc led a Sauber 1-2, as Marcus Ericsson was second on the timesheets.
  • Sergey Sirotkin was third in the Williams, and his teammate Lance Stroll was ninth.
  • The two Ferrari drivers went out at the end of the session and set timed laps. Sebastian Vettel was fourth and Kimi Raikkonen eighth on the time sheets.
  • Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley were fifth and sixth for Toro Rosso.
  • Nico Hulkenberg was seventh at his home track. His teammate Carlos Sainz had a spin and did not set a timed lap.
  • Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, went out on the wet tyres for exploratory laps and came back into the pits.

The Last Word: The track will certainly be wet for the qualification session in two hours time. If more rain falls, the session will be stop and go. Wet conditions normally produce a mixed grid and unexpected results are possible.

Results of German GP FP3 :

Pos No Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 16 Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 1:34.577 8
2 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:35.000 +0.423s 9
3 35 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 1:35.334 +0.757s 9
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:35.573 +0.996s 5
5 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:35.659 +1.082s 6
6 28 Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:36.151 +1.574s 6
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:36.873 +2.296s 4
8 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:37.755 +3.178s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:38.393 +3.816s 7
10 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 2
11 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 2
12 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1
13 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 1
14 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 2
15 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1
16 55 Carlos Sainz Renault 2
17 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2
18 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 2
19 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1
20 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2

MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images

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