Australian GP: Piastri edges Russell and Verstappen in final practice

Under a blazing Melbourne sun, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the pace in Saturday’s third and final practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, clocking a blistering 1m 15.921s to edge out Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The Albert Park circuit baked in warmer conditions than Friday, giving teams their last chance to dial in setups before qualifying, though a looming rain threat for race day added a strategic twist.

With parc ferme rules locking in car configurations post-session, teams faced a dilemma: optimize for Saturday’s dry qualifying or hedge bets for a potentially wet Sunday.

• Australian Grand Prix Free Practice 3 - Results

Most drivers hit the track early, eager to maximize the hour, but Haas rookie Ollie Bearman’s weekend took another sour turn almost immediately.

Just minutes in, the young Briton misjudged his braking into Turn 11, clipping the grass and spinning wildly into the gravel.

The resulting red flag briefly halted proceedings as marshals cleared his stranded car, leaving Bearman to rue a second costly mistake after his FP1 crash had already sidelined him for Friday’s second session.

Once the green flag waved, the field wasted no time. Verstappen initially led the way with a 1m 16.646s on soft tires, closely tailed by Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz—the latter shrugging off a minor scrape with the Turn 3 wall.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton briefly climbed the order, slotting into second and third, but Verstappen’s next push was undone by a shaky final sector, where he radioed about a “loose” car.

Meanwhile, Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson, already off the pace on Friday, limped back to the pits with suspected recharge troubles, his session later ending entirely due to a power unit glitch.

As the clock ticked toward the finish, a flurry of soft-tyre runs shuffled the leaderboard. Russell briefly seized the top spot before Piastri’s late flyer cemented his dominance, the hometown hero delighting fans with a lap just fractions ahead of the Mercedes and Verstappen, who fluffed his final effort with an error at Turn 11.

Leclerc held fourth, followed by Mercedes debutant Kimi Antonelli and the Williams pair of Sainz and Albon, who continued their strong weekend. Hamilton settled for eighth, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who aborted a competitive lap.

Further back, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar all showed decent pace despite being unable to crack the top ten.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll led teammate Fernando Alonso in 14th and 17th, respectively, while Nico Hulkenberg and Jack Doohan rounded out the midfield, with Bearman and Lawson—stuck in the garage—closing out the timesheet.

With qualifying looming, the third practice offered a tantalizing preview: Piastri’s on form, Verstappen’s lurking, and the weather wildcard looms large. The 2025 season’s first pole fight promises to be a thriller.

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