George Russell spearheaded a British 1-2-3 at the end of a wet final practice at Silverstone.
Mercifully for the teams and drivers the rain that had drenched the circuit overnight relented an hour before the start of FP3 and for 45 minutes there was at least considerable track running on the intermediate tyres.
When the rain settled in again with 15 minutes remaining, there was the sight of three British drivers at the top of the timesheet, with Russell on top with a lap of 1:37.529s ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.035s.
Lando Norris, who was quickest in both sessions on Friday in his McLaren, finished 0.185s adrift of Russell. The trio were comfortably clear of the field, led by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who was just over six-tenths of a second down.
RB driver Daniel Ricciardo, only 18th quickest after finishing 3.637s down on Russell, faces a stewards’ investigation for a bizarre pit lane incident.
On his return to the pits at the start of a red-flag period after Alpine’s Pierre Gasly slid off track and into the gravel at Vale just eight minutes into the session, Ricciardo weaved his way down the pit lane on his way back to the team garage.
From the on-board camera, and although seemingly in control of his car, the Australian came close on a couple of occasions to staff from other teams working in their respective pit boxes.
At the start of the session, even on the intermediates, it was apparent there was a lack of grip.
Even Max Verstappen, who was fifth quickest, 0.864s behind Russell, spun 360 degrees through Brooklands but was travelling slowly enough that he was comfortably able to control his Red Bull before continuing.
After just eight minutes, though, the session had to be red-flagged when Gasly spun on the approach to the Vale left-hander through no fault of his own. Gasly was a passenger in his Alpine as he slid off the track and into the gravel where he beached the car.
Following a six-minute delay, and with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda at the top of the standings with a 1:47.080s, that time was shattered soon after as the track slowly improved in terms of grip, and appreciably the times tumbled as the drivers continued on the inters.
Hamilton was the first driver to duck under one minute and 40 seconds for a lap, posting 1:39.546s with 38 minutes remaining.
That was soon beaten by Leclerc and Verstappen before Hamilton then set a 1:38.511s.
At the 30-minute mark, after being ousted from top spot again by Leclerc, Hamilton went four-tenths quicker than the Monégasque with a 1:38.065s before Russell set a 1:37.529s, which proved to be as good as it got.
Many drivers, though, were suffering snap moments given the conditions, notably Leclerc and Sainz, with the former performing superbly at one point to catch the SF-24.
With 23 minutes remaining, there was the sight of Russell ahead of Hamilton and Norris, and so it stayed as the rain started to fall again soon after.
Several drivers continued, gaining vital preparation as rain is again forecast for the race. The lap times, though, were four to five seconds off Russell’s leading pace.
Sixth-quickest Leclerc was the only other driver within a second of Russell, followed by Oscar Piastri in his McLaren, 1.125s back.
Sergio Perez was a further six-tenths down in his Red Bull, followed by the Haas of Nick Hulkenberg. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, albeit two seconds down.
Gasly propped up the standings but without a time to his name. That made Stake’s Zhou Guanyu the slowest, 4.256s off the pace.