FP3: Dominant Verstappen heads Red Bull 1-2 in final practice ahead of British Grand Prix qualifying

Max Verstappen bounced back from a low-key Friday to set a scintillating pace and head a Red Bull one-two in final practice at Silverstone.

The championship leader clocked a 1m 27.901s, an impressive four tenths of a second clear of team mate Sergio Perez, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc third, a few hundredths further back as the predicted rain held off.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from final practice for the British Grand Prix

Mercedes’ upgrade appears to have hauled them closer to the top two teams, George Russell getting the better of team mate Lewis Hamilton, the top five separated by six tenths of a second to set up an intriguing qualifying.

Carlo Sainz was unhappy with level of bouncing in the high-speed corners, the Spaniard telling his Ferrari team that it was no better than yesterday.

The Ferrari driver, second last time out in Canada, was sixth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris impressing once again in seventh, albeit 1.2s off the pace.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was just a fraction behind in eighth, with Haas making big gains overnight as Mick Schumacher ended up a solid ninth. Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, which featured seven different teams.

READ MORE: 5 things we learned from Friday practice at the British Grand Prix

Esteban Ocon was just behind in 11th, the heavily updated Alpine performing more impressively after the team found some solutions overnight.

Sebastian Vettel was the leading Aston Martin in 12th, four places and three tenths clear of team mate Lance Stroll, with Zhou Guanyu 13th.

Williams are reasonably pleased with the performance of their significant upgraded car, which only Alex Albon is running – with the Thai driver 14th.

AlphaTauri continue to struggle, as anticipated, on Silverstone’s fast sweeping turns, with Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda 17th and 19th, with Daniel Ricciardo in between and Nicholas Latifi propping up the timesheets in the old-spec Williams.

Qualifying takes place at 1500 local time, with forecasts suggesting rain is possible.