Chaos at Silverstone: Two Crashes Bring FP3 to a Dramatic Halt

Newsweek

a day ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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The third free practice at Silverstone saw two red flags in the final ten minutes, bringing the session to an abrupt halt. This prevented several drivers, including seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, from doing a second run on soft tires.
The first red flag of the session was triggered after Oliver Bearman lost some of the bodywork of his Haas. However, he then crashed in the pit lane, damaging the nose of his VF25 F1 car, which has has subsequently been handed a 10-place grid penalty for.
The second incident saw Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto spin out on the kerbs and go off the track at high speed, breaking his front suspension.
The incident brought out the red flags. While the driver seemed okay, the car took significant damage. Now, Sauber has a short time to prepare the car for qualifying. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest, followed by Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 leads Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes past some debris left after Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving...
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 leads Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes past some debris left after Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari crashed during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 05, 2025 in Northampton, England. MoreThe FIA stewards confirmed the 10-place grid penalty for Bearman, stating:
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 87 (Oliver Bearman), the team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
"The session was red flagged at 12.33:57. Car 87 had slowed down for the red flag and as he was approaching Turn 15 accelerated significantly to race pace and entered the pit entry road at 260kph. He lost control of the car in the pit entry road and crashed into the barriers.
"Art. 37.6 (a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations and Art. 2.5.4.1 (b) of Appendix H of the International Sporting Code require that when a red flag is shown 'all cars must immediately reduce speed and proceed slowly back to the pit lane'.
"It is beyond doubt that the driver of Car 87 did not proceed slowly back to the pit lane when he accelerated to simulate entering into the pit entry road under race conditions. In fact, we looked at a previous in-lap under normal racing conditions and found that he was faster in this lap, under a red flag.
"To make matters worse, he lost control of the car and crashed into the barriers while at speed. The driver informed us that he misjudged the fact that his brakes were not warm because the lap was done slowly, due to the red flag. While this may have been a factor contributing to the crash, we did not consider it to be a mitigating factor.
"We accordingly penalised him per the penalty guidelines to a drop of 10 grid places with 4 penalty points."
British GP FP3 Results
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.498
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.068
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.087
4 Lando Norris McLaren +0.108
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.606
6 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.614
7 Alexander Albon Williams +0.621
8 George Russell Mercedes +0.627
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.631
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.758
11 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.834
12 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.834
13 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.879
14 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.924
15 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.001
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.003
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.396
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2.099
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +2.102
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine +2.380