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Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Minute-by-minute updates of Formula 1 Saturday practice and qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps
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"Definitely wets so far, but should be inters pretty soon," Norris reports.
Everyone else who has gone out is on the wet tyre, perhaps just taking it easy at this stage.
Green flag
Q1 is finally underway! The two Williams cars are out on track first, on inters.
The cars are lining up at the pit exit, ready to hit the road...
Breaking news
Qualifying will start in FIVE minutes.
The safety car is out, lapping the circuit. I guess that'll give the fans something to, uh, enjoy.
We'll get a five minute warning before Q1 begins, whenever that is. For now, one must simply sit tight and wait for things to dry out.
Breaking news
And indeed, the start of the session WILL be delayed.
Rain
Lots of streams of water along the perimeter of the track - it will be a great surprise if there's not a delay.
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10 minutes until we should in theory get underway for quali - Red Bull led the times in FP3, can they deliver on that pace to get pole?
Rain
Guess what? It's raining.
And we're back for qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps! Hope you're all ready for a fun session.
Can Hamilton and Mercedes fight back? Will Ferrari be able to turn around its practice form? And will Raikkonen ever leave the garage? Join us as we build up to the green light for Q3 at 2pm UK time. See you then.
That'll be all from us for now, but there's plenty more to be decided this afternoon in qualifying.
Breaking news
Here's the full report from FP3, as Red Bull again turned the screw: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-belgian-gp-verstappen-leads-red-bull-1-2-in-wet-final-practice/6655370/
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Perhaps the most significant development to come from that session was the calendar. Here's a handy graphic:
No major incidents to report from that session thankfully after the two red flag stoppages in FP2 yesterday. Raikkonen though will be on the back foot after his brake problems caused him to spend the bulk of the session in the garage.
The Belgian master's presence doesn't quite seem to have inspired Ferrari in the same way he did for Mazda at Le Mans in 1991 - Sainz ends the session P14, with Leclerc only P16, either side of Ferrari academy member Schumacher in the Haas.
Cool to see Jacky Ickx in the back of the Ferrari garage. A Le Mans legend with Porsche, it's forgotten by some that he came very close to snatching the 1970 world title with Ferrari following Jochen Rindt's tragic passing at Monza.
Checkered flag
There is the checkered flag. No improvements in the final half hour with the increasing intensity of the rain, so it's Verstappen who again tops the times.
Norris came back into the pits after his slow lap on softs. Not a risk that he needed to take ahead of qualifying.
Good to see Beitske Visser back in the paddock after her scary crash at Eau Rouge yesterday. We understand she won't be participating in today's race, however.
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He gives it a big boot of throttle coming out of the pits to help inject some heat into the tyres, but sensibly has a big lift coming up the hill to Raidillon.
Ooh that's interesting, Norris has put a set of soft slicks on.
We've just seen a lovely slow-motion shot of Bottas through the Bus Stop, the front and rear wings shaking with the yaw of the car over the kerbs. Give that cameraman a raise.
It doesn't appear to be raining anymore and, despite Sainz's comment earlier about the track returning to full wet conditions, everybody is still touring round on inters.
Yellow flag
Gasly meanwhile has had a spin exiting Turn 14. He just spun the wheels up over the kerb on the outside which spat him across to the inside - where Hakkinen memorably half-spun in 2000 - before rotating the right way again.
A reminder of the order with 10 minutes to go: Red Bull has a 1-2 with Verstappen 0.9s up on Perez. Then it's Hamilton third, Norris fourth, then Ocon and Stroll.
Sainz is the latest driver to get it wrong at Les Combes as he also takes to the run-off. That seems to be the favourite place today, which suggests drivers are struggling to spot their braking point after so long at flat chat down the Kemmel Straight.
Breaking news
Meanwhile, it's been announced that F1 has updated its calendar, dropping to 22 races and leaving a TBC slot in late November. Here's the full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/formula-1-reveals-updated-2021-calendar-drops-to-22-races/6655341/
Crikey! Big moment over the kerb from Vettel exiting the Pif-Paf, almost spitting the Aston into the wall on the left-hand side as Giovinazzi did last year. That will have given him a few grey hairs...
Meanwhile Hamilton has had a moment at Les Combes and has to use the escape road. Conditions really aren't easy out there.
Picking the best wet weather races at Spa is like selecting a World XI in football. There are plenty of utter classics to choose from in the discussion - from one of Jim Clark's greatest-ever drives in 1963, to the Schumacher vs Hill epic in 1995 and the chaotic end to the 2008 race in which Raikkonen slithered off - and a late tyre change vaulted Nick Heidfeld onto the podium. And that's without even mentioning the venerated 1998 race that yielded Jordan's first win and the 2000 race remembered for Hakkinen's pass on Schumacher which, don't forget, also started in the rain. Which is your favourite?
But with tomorrow expected to be wet too, there's still value in pounding around and gathering data. Leclerc is told by his engineer that no more rain is expected in this session.
The rooster tails behind the cars are becoming ever more prominent now, and Alonso goes straight on into the first part of Les Combes - as Bottas did earlier. to underline the increasingly limited grip available on the inters.
Unsurprisingly therefore, we're not seeing any improvements from any of the drivers currently out on track.
Stopwatch
"Track is back to full wets," says Sainz.
Verstappen boxes again without going for another flyer, but others are being tempted. Both Ferraris, Gasly and Alonso have now headed out to join Ocon and Giovinazzi.
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