Max Verstappen set an impressive pace as Red Bull finished one-two in final practice at the British Grand Prix.
The reigning champion sent a clear message to his rivals by finishing four-tenths clear of teammate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc fractionally slower in third.
Early on, the session saw Mercedes and Ferrari chip away at their initial best times before Verstappen immediately went half a second faster on his first flying lap.
Though the others would work their way down to within a tenth of Max, the Dutchman then found another half a second on his second set of tyres, setting the benchmark at 1m27.901s.
Teammate Sergio Perez then put his Red Bull into P2 to lead Leclerc and the two Mercedes’ of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth, with the four drivers covered by just 0.14s.
Practice wrapped up at Silverstone ? Quali is going to be FUN! ? pic.twitter.com/mWj9O0eag1
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 2, 2022
Friday pacesetter Carlos Sainz was two-tenths further back in sixth in the second Ferrari.
The midfield was equally close with Lando Norris leading in seventh, less than a tenth clear of Valtteri Bottas in eighth.
Mick Schumacher, both Alpines and Sebastian Vettel all lapped in the 1m29.5s in P9 to P12.
Alex Albon continued to show promise in the upgraded Williams in 14th. In contrast, AlphaTauri continued to struggle in 15th for Pierre Gasly and 17th for Yuki Tsunoda.
Daniel Ricciardo was 1.1s slower than McLaren teammate Norris in 18th, as Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen completed the standings.
The top 10 from Practice 3 can be seen below:
