Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen and Alonso just ahead of Ocon

This third, and final training session for the drivers and teams at the Australian Grand Prix took place in dry conditions, unlike the previous one.

Verstappen is cruising, Perez is struggling

While he was still not satisfied with his car, the double world champion, Max Verstappen, driving his Red Bull, rightfully positioned himself at the top of the standings.

At the start of the session, he began on the medium tires, then switched to the softest tires in the range, with the C4 compound, marked with a red stripe, in preparation for qualifying, taking the opportunity to set the fastest time in 1.17.565.

Just behind the Dutchman, it’s an Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso’s car, less than two-tenths behind, that comes closest at the expense of Sergio Perez. The winner of the last race in Jeddah seems to be struggling, as evidenced by his sixth-fastest time. Prior to that, he had a 20-minute session cut short; his mechanics had to finish working on his car. The rest of the session showed a Mexican driver lacking confidence with his car, experiencing wheel lock-ups and track excursions, even narrowly avoiding a collision with Nico Hülkenberg.

Exciting qualifications ahead

With the top 12 separated by less than a second, the qualifying session promises to be even more interesting. And in this game, it might be the Alpine team that stands out. The two French drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, finished third and fifth respectively. The former being only 373 milliseconds behind the leader, a remarkable performance that they will need to capitalize on.

Mercedes seems to have gone a little too far with its setups, with George Russell complaining in particular about a car that reacted too much to bumps. The Englishman finished fourth in the session, ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who could only manage eighth. The man with 103 victories is just behind the first Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who finished seventh in Free Practice 3, but well ahead of his teammate. Charles Leclerc, winner of last year’s Australian Grand Prix, finds himself only in the lower half of the field in a distant 13th place.