F1: Perez tops final practice for Belgium GP

With everyone doing their best to sandbag ahead of qualifying, Red Bull Honda driver Sergio Perez turned the fastest lap for final practice for the Belgium GP at Spa

Perez’s lap of 1m45.047s was 0.137s faster than his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.

While Perez can sit on the pole for this race, Verstappen has grid penalties coming and will start near the back, so for Red Bull, it is more important for Perez to win the pole.

The Mexican is not carrying grid penalties, so on that form, could he now be the favorite for pole?

Carlos Sainz was 3rd quick for Ferrari, 0.777s behind Perez. Sainz also does not have grid penalties coming so he also can sit on pole.

Lando Norris was 4th for McLaren, 0.918s behind the Red Bull driver.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-5 for Alpine.

The Mercedes cars appeared to be turned down, and do not be surprised if either of their drivers grab pole. They do not carry grid penalties.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc spun off through Turn 12 and hit the barriers. Luckily, the gravel trap took the sting out of that one, and he was able to get back to the pits under his own steam.

Replays show he hit one of the small bumps here whilst pushing pretty hard. That was enough to lose the rear, and he spun off. The hit looked a little harder on replay than it first appeared, and as he makes it back to the pits, it’s clear to see he has some front wing damage.

Practice 3 Results