FP3: Norris heads another McLaren one-two, Ferrari impresses with encouraging pace in final practice
On the back of McLaren’s dominant showing on the opening day at the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris headed another one-two for the papaya team. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on Free Practice 3 from the Red Bull Ring.
Lando Norris sat out the opening practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, but he displayed stellar pace in FP2. The third and final practice saw the Briton continue to set the pace, finishing the session on top with a time of 1m 4.324s to lead a McLaren 1-2.
His team-mate Oscar Piastri ended up just over a tenth behind while Max Verstappen, who completed a heavy-fuel run midway through the session on Pirelli’s hard tyres, took third for Red Bull.
Ferrari sounded a pessimistic voice yesterday when assessing their one-lap pace. However, the Scuderia displayed a significantly improved performance in third practice, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton having finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The two Mercedes were separated by just 0.035s with George Russell marginally beating Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the final one-hour practice session at the Red Bull Ring.
Lance Stroll continued to impress at the Red Bull Ring, taking 8th, while Yuki Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top 10.
Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso was two tenths slower than his Canadian team-mate which was only enough for a 12th spot.
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson managed to set a time identical to Bortoleto’s, ending up 11th. Nico Hulkenberg took P13 ahead of the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Sainz, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman settling for P16.
Alpine continued to struggle for pace at the Red Bull Ring, with Pierre Gasly ending up 17th fastest, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar while Franco Colapinto brought up the rear of the field.
