Verstappen quickest, Stroll crashes in rain-shortened final practice · RaceFans

July 27, 2024

in Racing

Reading Time: 3 mins read

Max Verstappen set the quickest time in moist circumstances throughout the closing observe session for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The championship chief was over a second faster than Oscar Piastri on intermediates as drivers solely achieved a handful of laps in a moist session.

Lance Stroll crashed at Eau Rouge, bringing out the pink flag. Groups solely managed to get a handful of laps in, with the session resuming for simply the ultimate two minutes.

Drivers have been greeted by a soggy circuit for the beginning of the ultimate hour of observe at Spa. Whereas some opted for full moist tyres as they headed out, Verstappen was assured sufficient to take to the monitor on intermediates, which rapidly proved to be the precise tyres for the circumstances.

Verstappen set the quickest time of the early operating with a 2’01.565 on the intermediates, which was over a second faster than Piastri within the McLaren. Nonetheless, the rain elevated in depth and grip grew to become tougher to come back by as water ranges elevated.

Slightly below 20 minutes into the session, Stroll misplaced management of his Aston Martin at by way of Eau Rouge and spun gently into the within barrier at Raidillon, breaking the suspension on his left-front wheel. With Stroll unable to proceed, observe was suspended with a pink flag.

After a delay of simply 9 minutes, the session formally resumed. Nonetheless, the rain had elevated in depth considerably, which means that not one of the groups opted to return their automobiles to the circuit in what was almost now full moist circumstances.

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This appeared a sensible transfer because the rain solely obtained heavier. Finally, regardless of no automobiles being on monitor, circumstances obtained so dangerous that race director Niels Wittich suspended the session once more with one other pink flag.

The rain continued but it surely took till solely two minutes have been remaining within the session for observe to renew. Carlos Sainz Jnr, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon all selected to take to the monitor on moist tyres, however the bulk of the sector remained safely within the storage.

There was no time to begin a flying lap and the session ended moments later. Except for a visit by way of the gravel at Bruxelles for Sainz, there have been no different points and all drivers took the chequered flag to finish a largely unrepresentative session.

Verstappen was confirmed as quickest, forward of Piastri and Pierre Gasly having set the third quickest time. Lando Norris was fourth forward of Ocon within the second Alpine, with Charles Leclerc in sixth and Stroll seventh regardless of crashing. Bottas was eighth quickest, with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez finishing the highest ten.

Mercedes had opted to exchange their revised flooring for the remainder of the weekend, reverting to a earlier specification. George Russell was one in every of two drivers who failed to finish a timed lap within the hour, with Sainz the opposite. Ocon, Bottas, Tsunoda and Zhou accomplished probably the most laps of any, with all three getting simply seven laps in within the moist circumstances.

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