Williams driver Nicholas Latifi tops FP3 session at Hungary Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc second

Nicholas Latifi has posted the fastest lap in the final practice session at the Hungary Grand Prix.

Williams driver Latifi managed the wet and difficult conditions better than most, finishing 0.661s ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and 0.901s ahead of team mate Alex Albon.

The 27-year-old Canadian has only picked up seven career points since making his Formula 1 debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix so even topping a practice session is something of a coup.

Even he was surprised, saying over the team radio "I was wondering if that clapping was for me!”

Before the weekend began, Latifi had admitted that he was seeking consistency at the moment and that the summer break was coming at exactly the wrong time. “Yeah I would be happy to just keep going right now because there is a bit of positive momentum for sure."

Latifi's French Grand Prix ended in a collision with Kevin Magnussen. Both drivers were force to retire, but Magnussen was not happy with Latifi, saying "He attacked, ran me out of road and then on the right-hander we made contact. From how I see it, there was nowhere I could really go except off the track and through the bollards, which at that point it was too late. I think he should have given me more space but it’s too hard to say now – you’d have to go and see it again on television and judge from that."

It was a chaotic practice session in the rain, with George Russell struggling to stay on the track, and Sebastian Vettel spinning hard into the wall late in the session.

Mick Schumacher complained that it was like driving "on ice".

Vettel's incident brought out the red flags with ten minutes left in the session, but it was quickly cleared and the session resumed for a few late minutes, during which Vettel dropped from third to ninth.

Despite the way his session ended, Vettel finished ninth, 2.698s off the pace set by Lafiti.

Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both continued to face difficulties in Hungary. After struggling for speed in the drier conditions of Friday's sessions, both fared little better in the wet.

Leclerc had topped both FP1 and FP2 sessions, but Latifi snuck ahead in the third session.

Spinning on inters late in the session, Leclerc has endured a less than ideal start in Hungary. Yesterday he ran into a jack stand in the pit, an incident described as "a little bit embarrassing" in the television coverage.

Leclerc has already admitted that his hopes of catching Max Verstappen rest on him winning all the remaining races, so any slip-ups in Hungary threaten to end his title bid even before the summer break.

"Maybe people will think I'm crazy, but when I see the statistics, I know that if I win every race and Max comes second without driving the fastest lap every time, I've seen it on Twitter, we can still win the championship. So now I just have to win all the remaining races. It won't be easy, but that's the spirit we have to have. Otherwise I can stay at home. What motivates me in F1 is winning, so I will believe in it until the end."

With the weather likely to remain wet and unpredictable, Sunday's race will be sure to provide more twists and turns.