Belgian GP: Leclerc quickest in FP3 as Hamilton crashes
Charles Leclerc continued Ferrari’s perfect start to the Belgian Grand Prix weekend as Formula 1 world championship leader Lewis Hamilton crashed heavily in final practice.

Hamilton’s rare mistake triggered a red flag just after the halfway mark in Saturday’s one-hour session when, after setting a personal best first sector, he ploughed into the tyre barrier at the Fagnes chicane.
The Mercedes driver lost the rear of his car as he turned in on the outside kerb, then wrestled to catch the slide only to lose the rear again as he ran deeper into the run-off.
Hamilton avoided spinning but was unable to stop the car hitting the barrier heavily on the front left.
He apologised to his team over the radio and emerged from the car unharmed, with Mercedes facing plenty of work to get his car ready for qualifying.
Hamilton’s crash caused a substantial delay and the session only resumed with less than 15 minutes remaining.
Vettel led Leclerc by a tenth of a second at this point after the initial runs on soft tyres, but times were slower than in FP2 and remained that way despite late improvements.
Leclerc kicked that off by displacing Vettel with a 1m44.206s, which remained the benchmark despite being a tenth slower than his own best from Friday.
Vettel was 0.451s back after failing to improve, fractionally ahead of the sole remaining Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
Daniel Ricciardo was a surprise fourth-fastest for Renault, capitalising on Hamilton’s shunt and Max Verstappen suffering in traffic but also complaining of brake-balance problems in his Red Bull.
Verstappen was 1.1s slower than Leclerc in fifth, with Sergio Perez leapfrogging the absent Hamilton late on for sixth.
Alfa Romeo pair Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi followed Hamilton in eighth and ninth, while the demoted Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for Toro Rosso.
Gasly’s replacement at Red Bull Alex Albon was slowest of the 20 runners after sacrificing qualifying simulations to focus on longer runs, as he is due to start from the back of the grid.
Session results
Cla | # | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | | ![]() | Ferrari | 9 | 1'44.206 | |
2 | 5 | | ![]() | Ferrari | 12 | 1'44.657 | 0.451 |
3 | 77 | | ![]() | Mercedes | 11 | 1'44.703 | 0.497 |
4 | 3 | | ![]() | Renault | 10 | 1'44.974 | 0.768 |
5 | 33 | | ![]() | Red Bull | 11 | 1'45.312 | 1.106 |
6 | 11 | | ![]() | Racing Point | 12 | 1'45.521 | 1.315 |
7 | 44 | | ![]() | Mercedes | 4 | 1'45.566 | 1.360 |
8 | 7 | | ![]() | Alfa Romeo | 13 | 1'45.659 | 1.453 |
9 | 99 | | ![]() | Alfa Romeo | 13 | 1'45.688 | 1.482 |
10 | 10 | | ![]() | Toro Rosso | 15 | 1'45.752 | 1.546 |
11 | 8 | | ![]() | Haas | 15 | 1'45.806 | 1.60 |
12 | 27 | | ![]() | Renault | 11 | 1'45.855 | 1.649 |
13 | 20 | | ![]() | Haas | 15 | 1'46.004 | 1.798 |
14 | 55 | | ![]() | McLaren | 14 | 1'46.017 | 1.811 |
15 | 4 | | ![]() | McLaren | 13 | 1'46.270 | 2.064 |
16 | 18 | | ![]() | Racing Point | 11 | 1'46.379 | 2.173 |
17 | 26 | | ![]() | Toro Rosso | 13 | 1'46.642 | 2.436 |
18 | 63 | | ![]() | Williams | 14 | 1'47.858 | 3.652 |
19 | 88 | | ![]() | Williams | 14 | 1'48.350 | 4.144 |
20 | 23 | | ![]() | Red Bull | 14 | 1'50.681 | 6.475 |
View full results |

Previous article
Renault drivers, Sainz revert to older-spec engines
Next article
Mercedes expects to fix Hamilton's car in time for qualifying

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Event | Belgian GP |
Sub-event | FP3 |
Author | Scott Mitchell |
Belgian GP: Leclerc quickest in FP3 as Hamilton crashes
Why Verstappen isn't interested in the hype game
In a pre-season where Red Bull has been unusually quiet, Max Verstappen has also been guarded about the team's fortunes in 2021. Even after trying the RB16B for the first time at Silverstone, the Dutchman was careful to manage expectations
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror