Miami Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Perez and Red Bull at the top!

The session starts with temperatures still very high, it’s 50°C on the ground. Some small parts of the track have been repaved before this testing session, and the drivers quickly notice the difference in grip.

The first part of the session was marked by Esteban Ocon’s accident.

While the Verstappen/Leclerc duel resumed during this first 15 minutes, trading fastest times back and forth, it was the Frenchman Esteban Ocon who interrupted the FP3 session by losing his Alpine in the same way and at the same place as Carlos Sainz the day before.

Considering the force of the impact, it’s not obvious that number 31 will be able to participate in the qualifying session just a few hours later.

A much calmer session, but the hierarchy is starting to take shape.

After nearly fifteen minutes of red flag, the drivers are preparing their cars for the qualifying session. While Leclerc and Verstappen are leaving no chance for their pursuers, the hierarchy behind them is constantly changing.

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Despite his lack of driving time, Valtteri Bottas benefits from the good tests carried out by his rookie teammate to be immediately performant. He holds a solid third place.

Pierre Gasly also seems to be in great shape and is putting up some good lap times.

The Mercedes drivers seem to be falling behind compared to Friday. The cars are sliding, and their lap times remain about a second off the leaders. Meanwhile, Lando Norris is trying to improve the lap times in his McLaren. However, he narrowly avoids sending his car into the wall, just like Ocon did.

Ten minutes to test oneself before the qualifications

At the end of the session, the teams hardly hide their strategies anymore. It’s the qualification that is being prepared. And it’s the Red Bulls that are setting the fastest times, with car number 11 ahead of car number 1, but only by three tenths of a second. Despite a big scare, always at the critical point of the circuit, following a slightly too optimistic attack on the kerb, Max Verstappen narrowly avoids a severe penalty.

The track greatly improves, and everyone’s lap times are improving. Even though Leclerc is getting better and fits in between the two Red Bulls, Carlos Sainz is struggling to have complete confidence and is 7 tenths behind his Monegasque teammate, in seventh position. Mick Schumacher managed to place his Haas just ahead of him.

The sensations of this end of the session are Alonso in fourth place, continuing to make a very strong start to the season. Vettel is right behind him with his Aston Martin.

Alex Albon also achieves a superb performance.

Finally, the Mercedes cars finishing 15th and 17th, with Hamilton ahead of Russell, are the big disappointment of FP3. The issues of porpoising are once again very present. Not a good sign for the qualifying session.

Session ranking