Leclerc fastest from Albon in rain-disrupted final practice

Charles Leclerc topped the final Formula 1 free practice session at the British Grand Prix as rain hit Silverstone.

After rain hit earlier in the day for the Formula 3 race, the weather dried up to allow the beginning of the 60 minute session to begin in slick conditions, with drivers quickly trying to log laps before the rain arrived.

Leclerc was able to pump in a 1:27.419 effort on the Soft compound Pirellis, just before the rain arrived mid-way through the session.

A majority of the field ventured out again on the Intermediate tyres, but track conditions did not improve enough for times to improve, meaning Leclerc topped the session from Alex Albon in the Williams and Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

Rush for laps

Max Verstappen set the pace on the first timed laps with a 1:28.836 on the Medium tyres, with Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz both within two-tenths after their opening efforts.

Sainz quickly got the time down to a 1:27.964 on the Softs to take top spot, one tenth clear of Leclerc, three of Verstappen and nearly a full second up on Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton briefly climbed to the top of the times, lapping 0.016s quicker than Sainz but this was demolished by Leclerc who went purple in all sectors to record the 1:27.419 that stood as the benchmark.

Albon, Alonso and Pierre Gasly were the only other drivers to get another Soft tyre lap in before the rain arrived, slotting into second, third and fourth ahead of Hamilton and Sainz.

Logan Sargeant continued to show Williams' pace with seventh, out-pacing Verstappen down in eighth, having not run the Soft tyres, with George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10 positions.

Problems for Norris

In the early stages of the session, Lando Norris was told to stop the car at the end of the pit-lane as he trundled out with a piece of equipment still in place on the rear of the MCL60.

A mechanic retrieved it but in doing so crossed the white line at the end of the pit-lane which mechanics are not allowed to cross. McLaren have been summoned over the incident.

Norris would end up 12th quickest, just behind Nyck de Vries, but ahead of Lance Stroll and Perez - who like Verstappen - did not use the red-walled Soft tyres.

Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg filled 15th through to 19th as only one driver did not set a timed lap.

That was Zhou Guanyu, whose Alfa Romeo developed a problem with the Energy Store, limiting him to just two installation laps.