FP3: Gasly tops final practice at Zandvoort as heavy Sargeant crash interrupts running

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly led Haas rival Kevin Magnussen and Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas during third and final practice for the Dutch Grand Prix – with a heavy crash for outgoing Williams driver Logan Sargeant severely interrupting the action and mixing up the order.

After Friday’s mixed weather conditions, further rain soaked the tight, twisty Zandvoort Circuit for the start of FP3 at 1130 local time, though the variable gusts of wind experienced throughout the first and second practice sessions had at least come down a notch.

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The sodden track meant wet tyres were in order when the green light switched on at the end of the pit lane, with Nico Hulkenberg – keen to bounce back from his Friday practice crash – and Haas team mate Magnussen the first drivers to hit the track.

As more cars trickled out, Oscar Piastri broke the trend by running intermediate rubber, with footage showing the Australian slipping and sliding his way around as he got the timesheets rolling on a 1m 24.176s – almost 15 seconds slower than the dry FP2 benchmark.

Moments later, Hulkenberg suffered another unusual moment under braking that sent the German straight into the barriers at Turn 11. “It’s again the same as yesterday,” he lamented over the radio, referring to that FP2 shunt. “I touched the brake and I locked up.”

Having returned to the pits with a damaged front wing, Hulkenberg was noted by the stewards for driving his car in an unsafe condition, while offs for Magnussen and George Russell at Turn 1, and a trip through the gravel for Fernando Alonso, underlined how tricky conditions were.

More drama followed when Sargeant ran over the kerb and dipped a wheel on the grass exiting Turn 3, which unsettled his updated Williams, sent it sliding across the track and led to a violent impact with the barriers – bringing out the red flag in the process.

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While Sargeant confirmed he was unharmed, marshals got to work on removing the American’s car from the track, clearing away all the debris and tending to the barriers, and Williams mechanics prepared themselves for significant pre-qualifying repairs of their own.

Alonso had moved to the top of the times just before Sargeant’s crash, clocking a 1m 21.461s on intermediates to slot in front of Piastri, Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll and Magnussen, but the drivers had to wait to make any further improvements as marshals carried out their work.

A huge effort from all involved meant the session could be resumed at 1228 local time, with two minutes remaining, which triggered a rush of activity in the pit lane as drivers and teams headed back out on track to get some late running in amid slightly brighter conditions.

Following a flurry of laps, it was Gasly who ended up with the fastest time by getting down to a 1m 20.311s, followed by Magnussen on a 1m 20.450s and Bottas on a 1m 21.155s – all drivers running intermediates.

Lando Norris put his McLaren fourth, from Alonso, the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon, team mate Piastri, Stroll and Hulkenberg, who got back out with a new front wing, while Carlos Sainz completed the top-10 after his gearbox issue on Friday.

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Zhou Guanyu was 11th in his Kick Sauber, followed by the sidelined Sargeant, with Mercedes pair Russell and Lewis Hamilton sandwiching Alex Albon’s Williams in P13 to P15, and Charles Leclerc winding up 16th.

Max Verstappen was noted for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions after appearing to run over the white line at the pit exit in the late dash, as the home hero placed 17th over RB pair Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda and Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez – the latter two not posting times.

Drivers and teams will now have a short break to go through the data and make any final adjustments before the afternoon’s all-important qualifying session, which is set to get under way at 1500 local time.