Red Bull’s Max Verstappen harboured more than a one-second gap over his nearest rival during a washed-out third practice session at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
A substantial deluge prior to the session soaked the track and meant that Intermediates were in use across the entire field as the drivers ventured out onto the circuit.
Despite enduring a wide moment at Turn 8 as he navigated a treacherous track, Verstappen headed the initial times with a 2:01.565s, 1,433s faster than Oscar Piastri.
The showers had increased and over 10 minutes in proceedings were brought to a sudden halt as Lance Stroll lost control going up Eau Rouge and span into the wall.
Stroll brought his Aston Martin car to a standstill on the Kemmel Straight with his front left suspension broken, resulting in a red flag to retrieve his stranded machine.
The session restarted with 40 minutes remaining on the clock, but the teams were not in a rush to send their drivers back out as the precipitation persisted overhead.
There were to be no more laps recorded and thus no changes to the pecking order as the rain persisted, meaning that Verstappen headed the timesheets in his RB20.
Piastri was his closest rival, albeit over one second behind, while Pierre Gasly managed to propel his upgraded Alpine car into the top three, less than two-tenths back.
Lando Norris was behind the Frenchman in the second McLaren as Esteban Ocon placed both Alpines inside the top five, but two seconds slower than his team-mate.
Charles Leclerc was next up in sixth, with Stroll having set a time good enough to be seventh before his crash. Valtteri Bottas was eighth, with Lewis Hamilton in ninth.
Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 in the second Red Bull, 5.5s back from team-mate Verstappen, while Alex Albon’s Williams was three-tenths outside in 11th place.
Nico Hulkenberg was 12th in his Haas, edging Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, as Daniel Ricciardo led RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda despite concern over his steering.
Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou and Williams’ Logan Sargeant were the last to set competitive times, as George Russell, Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz resided at the back.
Sainz and numerous other drivers would explore the conditions as the session was resumed with a minute to go, but it was too late to impact the overall pecking order.
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