FP3 Highlights | 2024 Belgian Grand Prix

After two dry sessions on Friday, the heavens opened on Saturday morning and the traditional Spa rain began falling on the circuit ahead of the final practice hour of the weekend. Race day is expected to be dry, but with qualifying likely to be run in the wet, all drivers headed out on track to get a taste of the circuit in these conditions ahead of the fight for pole. And we're soon told it might get even worse. Okay Daniel, so confirmed we have a big chunk of rain coming in five to ten minutes. Max Verstappen, Oskar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda all found out how slippery the track was by running wide in the early Saita laps. But it was Lance Stroll who really fell foul of the wet conditions. The Canadian powered through Eau Rouge, up the right-hander at Radillon before he spun at the top of the hill and hit the wall on the left-hand side. With his left front wheel hanging off, Stroll pulled to a halt as race control threw the red flag. The marshals had But with the rain intensifying, the drivers opted to keep their powder dry and stayed in their garages. Then, with just under 25 minutes left in the session and the rain still hammering down, the red flags were out again with the track deemed too wet for any running. The medical car was sent out to assess the conditions as the hardy competitors on the karting circuit continued their racing. The driver on his inside there was just throwing a nose trying to unsettle the driver on the outside, looked over his shoulder, panicked, got off onto the wetter part, lost grip. Oh, sometimes it's just not your day. With just two minutes left on the clock, the circuit was opened again to allow drivers to practice wet starts. Carlos Sainz led a gaggle of eight cars out on track and soon found out exactly how wet it was when he ran deep into the gravel trap, just avoiding the barriers. So Verstappen ended the rain-interrupted session top, followed by Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc was P6, Stroll 7th, and Valtteri Bottas 8th. Hamilton and Perez completed the top 10. Alex Albon was 11th for Williams, then it was Hülkenberg, Alonso, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Joe Guainu, followed by Logan Sargent with George Russell and Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz failing to set a time.