F1 British GP: Leclerc tops wet final practice at Silverstone

Leclerc punched in a 1m27.419s prior to a smattering of rainfall, which briefly intensified enough to dampen the circuit and reduce the available grip for the second half of the session.

Early on, Max Verstappen posted a 1m28.836s on the medium compound but came under threat from the Ferrari duo. Neither Charles Leclerc nor Carlos Sainz could match the Dutchman in the final sector despite running a softer grade of tyres, Leclerc setting a 1m29.000s to slot into second place at the time.

The two Mercedes cars then thrust their way into the top end of the times, as George Russell split the Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton beat them to post a lap 0.13s slower than Verstappen's benchmark - albeit on the soft tyre.

Verstappen improved with a 1m28.266s but was bettered by Sainz's next soft-tyre lap as the Spaniard placed a 1m27.964s onto the top shelf as the opening 15 minutes of the session drew to a close.

Leclerc followed up his team-mate's time, moving above Verstappen but was 0.1s off Sainz's then-benchmark lap.

Hamilton then moved to the top having posted a 1m27.948s, which Sainz could not beat on his next soft-tyre effort having haemorrhaged time in the middle sector of the lap.

With a full house of purple sectors, Leclerc then beat Hamilton with a 1m27.419s, over half a second up on Hamilton's brief benchmark.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

The threat of rain then began to descend on the circuit at Turn 15, with spots of rain and lightning reported as dark clouds began to linger around the Silverstone environs, prompting a greater flurry of soft tyre runs in preparation for qualifying.

Alex Albon was resigned to remaining in the pitlane for the opening moments of the session, as an electrical issue required a burst of quick fixes from his Williams team to remedy the situation.

The Anglo-Thai driver set a best first sector on his switch to softs but fell short of Leclerc's time by 0.173s, as reports of rain began to intensify over the radio airwaves, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso fired his way up to third.

The rain then began to fall and coerced the drivers to retreat into their pit garages, although Leclerc elected to hang around for another lap on slicks in a bid to get a feeling for the dampening circuit.

Reduced rainfall offered a handful of drivers enough courage to brave the circuit on intermediate tyres, Lando Norris the first to conduct an exploratory lap. Russell then reported that it was "spitting" but suggested that the circuit was dry enough for slicks as the drizzle subsided.

Acting as a guinea pig once again, Norris bolted on soft tyres to observe the drying conditions despite other reports of more rain being set to arrive, although a brief slip off the road at Stowe coincided with continued rain at that part of the course.

He eventually returned to the pits, leaving the track clear for just Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas to cycle around on intermediate tyres as the rain continued into the final 15 minutes. Big hitters Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes all used the final vestiges of the session to conduct further intermediate running, although neither Verstappen nor Leclerc were particularly impressed with the intermediate tyre life.

The majority of the field concluded the final practice session by soaking up the atmosphere with their own intermediate runs, in preparation for any further inclement weather that could affect qualifying.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19 (Photo by: Erik Junius)

Pierre Gasly slotted in behind Fernando Alonso on the timing board, ahead of Hamilton and Sainz, while Logan Sargeant also continued Williams' strong form thus far this weekend with a time good enough for seventh in the standings.

Verstappen's best lap on mediums put the current championship leader in eighth place, a smidgen clear of George Russell, while AlphaTauri pair Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries were 10th and 11th - beating the 12th-placed Norris.

Norris had an incident investigated by the stewards as his McLaren team left a cooling fan at the back of his car and was asked to stop at the pitlane exit to allow a mechanic to retrieve the errant air displacement device. 

Following a post-session investigation, McLaren was handed a €1000 fine and an official warning from the FIA.

British Grand Prix: Final practice results

Cla	#	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	16	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	24	1'27.419			242.597
2	23	Alex Albon		Williams	Mercedes	14	1'27.592	0.173	0.173	242.118
3	14	Fernando Alonso		Aston Martin	Mercedes	17	1'27.784	0.365	0.192	241.588
4	10	Pierre Gasly		Alpine	Renault	19	1'27.893	0.474	0.109	241.288
5	44	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	1'27.948	0.529	0.055	241.137
6	55	Carlos Sainz		Ferrari	Ferrari	21	1'27.964	0.545	0.016	241.094
7	2	Logan Sargeant		Williams	Mercedes	16	1'28.151	0.732	0.187	240.582
8	1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Red Bull	19	1'28.266	0.847	0.115	240.269
9	63	George Russell		Mercedes	Mercedes	17	1'28.284	0.865	0.018	240.220
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	21	1'28.337	0.918	0.053	240.076
11	21	Nyck de Vries		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	20	1'28.504	1.085	0.167	239.623
12	4	Lando Norris		McLaren	Mercedes	18	1'28.563	1.144	0.059	239.463
13	18	Lance Stroll		Aston Martin	Mercedes	15	1'28.620	1.201	0.057	239.309
14	11	Sergio Perez		Red Bull	Red Bull	19	1'28.904	1.485	0.284	238.544
15	20	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	13	1'29.207	1.788	0.303	237.734
16	31	Esteban Ocon		Alpine	Renault	22	1'29.233	1.814	0.026	237.665
17	81	Oscar Piastri		McLaren	Mercedes	20	1'29.437	2.018	0.204	237.123
18	77	Valtteri Bottas		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	15	1'29.586	2.167	0.149	236.728
19	27	Nico Hulkenberg		Haas	Ferrari	13	1'33.590	6.171	4.004	226.601
20	24	Zhou Guanyu		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	2
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