Lewis Hamilton closed out practice for the British Grand Prix as the fastest driver after topping the timesheets on Saturday morning at Silverstone.
The Briton posted a fastest lap of 1:32.917 in the final stages of FP3 to give himself an advantage of six-tenths of a second over Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in second place.
Rosberg was sidelined for most of the second half of the session by another gearbox problem, having already missed some running during first practice on Friday due to a similar issue.
However, he was able to head back out on track in the final three minutes of the session, posting a lap time good enough for second place, albeit half a second down on Hamilton at the front.
It was Ferrari who once again emerged as Mercedes’ closest challenger in FP3 as Raikkonen and teammate Sebastian Vettel finished third and fourth respectively.
Toro Rosso’s impressive practice pace continued as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr slotted into fifth and sixth place, suggesting that the Red Bull B-team could be poised to upset its big brother outfit at Silverstone this weekend.
Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished seventh and eighth respectively for Williams, whilst Daniil Kvyat and Pastor Maldonado rounded out the top ten.
After losing out to Rosberg on Friday, Hamilton appears to have finally found his rhythm at Silverstone ahead of qualifying, and appears to now be the favorite for pole position.
Qualifying for the British Grand Prix is live on CNBC from 8am ET on Saturday.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
