Alonso, third before qualifying and Williams confirmed his surprise

The only certainty is Max Verstappen. The rest are all doubts, questions and more uncertainty. The Dutchman is favorite for today’s F1 2023 British GP qualifying (4:00 pm/DAZN F1) although Ferrari, with Sainz and Leclerc, want to challenge the champion for a lap. But above all, Max is the great contender to win tomorrow’s race. He had a lot left so in Free Practice 3 he dedicated himself to resting and watching.

He took to the track with the medium tire while his pursuers tried to improve their time with the qualifying rubber (soft tire). And when it rained in the middle of the session, with half an hour to go, he didn’t even go out to test in those conditions. youHe only managed to do it in the last few minutes. An aperitif to try the track. And it is that the current champion does not need more. He tried the intermediates to understand his limitations and he didn’t need any more. He knows he has the best car and is the favorite in his class come rain, snow or shine. The chance of rain for the classification is 50%. In the case of water, despite the fact that Max has already shown his superiority in previous races and his pulse does not tremble, the possibility of a surprise increases.

Max’s little filmmaking explains why he didn’t lead Free Practice 3 on a time table that stopped improving since it rained. Leclerc set the fastest time before a 1’27″419, with a surprising Williams de Albon confirming his amazing speed with a lap to 0″173 from Charles in second position.

Alonso was 3rd at 0.365 before the rain, with Gasly 4th at 0.474, Hamilton 5th by half a second and Sainz 6th. But the times are not representative, as there are many pilots left to mark their time. For example, when it rained Sainz was going to go out with new soft tires to improve his time, but he was left without doing so. Leclerc then stayed on track in the rain, more than he should have, taking risks, knowing he needed to gain confidence in wet conditions with dry rubber.

And if it rains before or during qualifying?

If the ‘qualification’ is in changing conditions, Sainz moves like a fish in water on this type of asphalt and will look for his second consecutive pole position here, although he knows that tomorrow in the dry Verstappen will be more which is high, because Max is half. a second faster per lap at race pace in practice on Friday. For his part, Alonso can also benefit from conditions where his special ability to quickly adapt to a delicate track that is difficult to read is key, as he did in Canada a few weeks ago. A good ‘qualification’ is essential for Alonso’s aspirations to score some excellent points and get back into the fight for a podium where there are more and more rivals.

A chasing group with more and more cars

We’ll have to wait until qualifying time to see what conditions the track will start in. It may start wet and may change during the session as there is a higher chance of rain in the later hours. This situation will increase the uncertainty on the track, as it will be key to set the finishing time in some intense sessions of Q1, Q2 and Q3 in a classification that seems very tight in an increasingly populated area of ​​the chasers of Red Bull.

In it, the Ferrari is expected to be at the front in a good battle with a Mercedes that seems to have less degradation, although less speed in a corner. The doubt at Ferrari is Leclerc whether it is raining or the asphalt is wet because of how much he has suffered in these conditions in previous races, without finding answers to that suffering. In that group is Aston Martin, but there should also be McLaren after its big step forward, Alpine, maybe Hülkenberg if he has another inspired day in qualifying and the big surprise of the weekend: Williams. Grove’s improvements seem to have worked and, perhaps due to the characteristics of the track, his car is flying higher than before. On Friday, Williams was up with his two drivers. It seems like a marketing action to show their sponsors to their fans. This Saturday, in FP3 they seemed to confirm their amazing turn one speed, Albon second and Sargeant 7th.