FP3: Gasly fastest over Verstappen in wet final Turkish GP practice session

Pierre Gasly set the fastest time in a wet final practice session ahead of qualifying for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, the AlphaTauri driver finishing ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

The session began on a soaked surface, AlphaTauri the first to brave the conditions on full-wet tyres after an eight-minute lull, followed by McLaren. A drier line began to form and intermediate tyres were fitted by all – but conditions were still tough as the likes of Gasly and Verstappen spun – and the session was briefly stopped when George Russell spun at Turn 2 and beached his Williams before the halfway mark, bringing out the red flag.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from third practice for the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul

Gasly – top 10 in both Friday sessions – set the benchmark to go 0.164s ahead of second-place Verstappen, who spun 360-degrees at Turn 9 early on. Perez lined up next having been eclipsed by Verstappen in the dying seconds of FP3.

Penalty-hit Carlos Sainz finished fourth, eight-tenths off P1, while his Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc was two-tenths back in P5 – having also spun late on. In P6 was Fernando Alonso, Alpine having enjoyed top 10 finishes yesterday too, while Kimi Raikkonen took seventh for Alfa Romeo, having had a moment in the pits where he was released into the path of Mick Schumacher.

Yuki Tsunoda, eighth, was left incensed when coming across a dawdling Sergio Perez midway through his session, but the AlphaTauri driver carried on to finish 1.5s off his session-leading team mate.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas set eight laps on his way to ninth – his team mate Lewis Hamilton back in 18th with just five early wet laps under his belt, with Hamilton set to take a 10-place grid drop after qualifying for changing his engine. That left Alpine's Esteban Ocon to round out the top 10, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

READ MORE: Hamilton loving ‘intense’ Istanbul challenge but has ‘a lot of work to do on Sunday’ after engine change penalty

Sebastian Vettel had a Turn 9 spin akin to Verstappen’s but shrugged that off to take 12th for Aston Martin, while Haas’s Schumacher was next in the charts.

McLaren’s pair, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, respectively lined up in P14 and P15 to leave Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – polesitter here in 2020 – 16th.

Nikita Mazepin (Haas), one of the many spinners in this session, finished 17th and ahead of championship leader Hamilton. Williams rounded out the FP3 standings, Nicholas Latifi setting six laps for P19 and Russell sitting out the session after his excursion off the track.

Will Gasly be able to keep the pace, and will the rain return? Qualifying follows at 1500 local time with live coverage and reaction on F1.com.