Formula 1: Verstappen the fastest in the rain in the 3rd free practice of the GP of the Netherlands News

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) set the fastest time in the 3rd free practice session of the Dutch F1 Grand Prix on the Zandvoort circuit (4.259 km) on Saturday, placing himself ideally to try to win a 9th consecutive victory on Sunday .

He beat the Briton George Russell (Mercedes) and his teammate at Red Bull the Mexican Sergio Pérez.

The session started in heavy rain forcing the drivers to use the appropriate tyres. This did not prevent several of them from going off track, including the Dane Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and the Chinese Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), forcing them to pull out the red flag.

Young New Zealander Liam Lawson, 21, making his F1 debut at Zandvoort, was one of the very first to hit the track with local hero Verstappen. He replaces at Alpha Tauri the Australian Daniel Ricciardo who fractured his hand the day before in an accident.

Learning on the wet track was difficult and it too caused an interruption in the session, finding himself in the wrong direction of the track after a spin.

The rain eased in the last minutes of the session allowing the drivers to improve their times but the weather should remain capricious for the qualifying sessions scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT).

3rd free practice session:

Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:21.631 (18 tours)

George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:22.010 (18)

Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:22.631 (18)

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:22.634 (14)

Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:22.723 (18)

Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:22.750 (19)

Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.892 (20)

Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari ) 1:22.965 (25)

Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:23.093 (12)

Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:23.158 (24)

Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:23.210 (15)