Austrian Grand Prix – Free practice 3: Lando Norris fastest

Third and final free practice session of Formula 1 in this Austrian Grand Prix weekend. And the last general rehearsal before qualifying (4 p.m.). An hour of crucial driving time to get a good grasp of all the corners and find the limit. The qualifying is expected to be very tight after fast lap simulations earlier in the weekend. After fifteen minutes of a session without much activity, the drivers are leaving their garages.

The course of the session

The first part of the session sees the majority of drivers doing their laps on soft tires. As previous sessions have shown, the times are close in these qualifying simulations. Lando Norris takes the top spot after his first flying laps. The Briton leads Lewis Hamilton and George Russell but with nearly four tenths of a second advantage. It is the only significant gap at the start of the session. Behind them, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, and Yuki Tsunoda are within a few hundredths of a second of each other. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is a bit further back but on hard tires. The four-time world champion is working on a different schedule in this final session.

At the back of the pack, it’s complicated for Alpine, which, even on medium tires, can’t find any pace. Franco Colapinto stagnates in last place and Pierre Gasly is sixteenth at mid-session. The same goes for Aston Martin, which is unable to get the yellow tires to work.

With twenty minutes remaining, the Mercedes drivers make their move. George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, both on soft tires, take the second and third places behind Lando Norris. Just 0.130 and 0.165 seconds behind the Briton.

At the end of the session, many drivers complain of understeer: the track is heating up and drivers pushing hard with their soft tires are struggling. Isak Hadjar even treats the audience at the last corner with a harmless spin.

A slippery track that doesn’t prevent the drivers from giving it their all at the end of the session. Max Verstappen improves his time and takes third place ahead of Charles Leclerc. In the final minutes, Yuki Tsunoda causes a yellow flag after going off track at the first turn. Max Verstappen also goes off in the last turn with a small spin.

At the end of the session, the timesheet remains unchanged. Lando Norris is the fastest. Great confidence displayed by the McLaren driver. See you at 4 PM for the qualifying session.

The session ranking