FP3: Norris heads another dominant McLaren one-two in final Zandvoort practice

Having set the benchmark in the opening two practice session on Friday, McLaren’s Lando Norris completed a clean sweep of fastest Free Practice time by having emerged as the quickest driver in the third and final session at the Dutch Grand Prix. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports from the Zandvoort circuit.

While drivers spent the opening stages of FP3 on a variety of compounds, the last fifteen minutes of the practice saw the field focus on qualifying simulations on Pirelli's soft rubber.

Lando Norris set the benchmark – a 1m 08.972s – which was comfortably quicker than any of his Friday efforts.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri took second, but he was left trailing his team mate by more than two-tenths.

Mercedes driver George Russell ended up third quickest, but he was over eight tenths adrift of Norris' benchmark, while Williams racer Carlos Sainz and reigning champion Max Verstappen slotted themselves behind the Briton in P4 and P5, respectively.

Hot on the the heels of a tough opening day at Zandvoort, Charles Leclerc displayed better performance, slotting his Ferrari into P6.

Having suffered a crash in FP2, Alex Albon was left seventh fastest, ahead of Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar, while Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson ended up 11th, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Kick Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto.

Although Lewis Hamilton looked quick on the medium tyres, he struggled to put a lap together on the red-walled tyres, and took only 14th.

Oliver Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg finished ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was blocked by Stroll and Tsunoda on his final lap. The Italian focussed on long run simulation in the majority of the session as he tried to make up for the lost time in FP1.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon did not look competitive in FP3, and finished down in P18 ahead of the Alpine pair, led by Pierre Gasly and then Franco Colapinto.