Free 3: Fernando Alonso fastest in the dry at Silverstone

Championship leader Fernando Alonso has ended final practice fastest ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session for the British Grand Prix. Amazingly the rain held off throughout the session, as the drivers eagerly took to the dry Silverstone circuit. Local hero Jenson Button was 2nd, with Romain Grosjean 3rd for Lotus.

The drivers were visibly eager to get the session underway, with the drivers set to get their first dry running of the weekend. Kimi Raikkonen led out the queue of waiting drivers as the session got underway, as Heikki Kovalainen impatiently passed several drivers upon exiting the pits.

With the threat of rain looming overhead, the drivers immediately began setting timed laps with the Mercedes duo of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg setting the early pace. Eventually Rosberg was able to get the time down to a 01:33.733, as Paul di Resta got caught out by the wet patch at turn 14 and spun his Force India.

The patient British fans were then rewarded as their hero Lewis Hamilton stormed to the front with a 01:33.084, before Charles Pic brought out the red flag as the Frenchman came to a miserable halt on the entry to turn 10. This forced the drivers to return to the pits as the ever efficient British marshals retrieved the stricken Marussia.

Nico Rosberg was the first driver to return to the track, as the dark rain clouds began to bubble up in the distance. Jenson Button then flew to the top of the timing sheets, with a 01:32.851, which was short lived as his team-mate returned to the top with a 01:32.728. The times quickly began to tumble as the drivers prepared for this afternoon’s qualifying hour, with the majority of the field opting for the soft (yellow) Pirelli compound.

Romain Grosjean and then Fernando Alonso went fastest, with the Spaniard setting a 01:32.167 in his Ferrari. The Championship leader then spun his Ferrari as he negotiated the final corner, before returning to the pits. The Sauber duo of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi also made slight mistakes, as Perez bounced through the muddy infield and obliterated his front wing whereas his Japanese team-mate simply spun at the final corner.

In the dying minutes of the session, Charles Pic once again stopped on the track in similar looking circumstances to his previous issue. This meant yellow flags were waving throughout turn 15, where the Frenchman had come to an sudden halt. With no-one able to beat Alonso’s time, the Spaniard remained fastest as the session came to an end.

With all three practice sessions now over, the Formula 1 fraternity will frantically preparing for qualifying later today. With rain beginning to fall as the session ended, it could well be another thrilling qualifying hour as 24 of the fastest men in the world battle for pole.

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