David Beckmann went fastest in Free Practice for the third time in five rounds in Formula 3 at Silverstone.
The German beat out a much-improved Jack Doohan by two tenths of a second, while Théo Pourchaire managed third.
The cars may have been heading out onto the track early in the morning, but temperatures had already risen to 22 degrees by the time they hit the circuit. The three Campos drivers were the first out onto the track, with Sophia Floersch and Alessio Deledda enjoying turns in P1.
Most of the grid initially opted to remain in the pitlane, with many of the teams not even getting out for an installation lap in the first 15 minutes.
Charouz Racing System were amongst the teams who wanted to get some running in, which allowed David Schumacher and Roman Stanek to take turns in first, but with times still teetering around the 1m 48s mark, there was plenty more to be found. From here, the session got a little more serious and the remaining teams left the pitlane.
Logan Sargeant was clearly in a confident mood and flexed his muscles with a lap faster than his pole time at the same circuit last time out. His teammate Oscar Piastri wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much.
The Australian pulled up off track and came to a halt, bringing out a virtual safety car. Ben Barnicoat was the first driver to dip under 1m 46s, but he was swiftly joined by Beckmann and Sargeant, who both went faster than the Carlin Buzz driver.
Pourchaire needed a confidence boost after a pointless weekend last time out, and the ART Grand Prix driver managed third, only losing time in the final sector. Jack Doohan had endured a difficult start to life in F3 but looked a whole lot more promising in Free Practice.
The Australian was briefly top of the standings before Beckmann knocked him down to second. Beckmann went first with a few minutes to go, before finding even more time in the middle sector on his final fast lap to confirm P1.
Sargeant ran fourth behind Pourchaire, with Liam Lawson fifth. Jake Hughes, Lirim Zendeli, Frederik Vesti, Bent Viscaal and Enzo Fittipaldi completed the top ten.
Beckmann will want to keep up his promising early form when Qualifying gets underway at 2pm local time.
