Scuderia Ferrari has topped the final practice session before the Australian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc leading the charts ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz who finished P3.
The Scuderia performed well so far around the Melbourne circuit, with Leclerc topping the session by 0.020s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was sandwiched between the Ferraris with Sainz in third by 0.77s to the lead.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic session after struggling throughout both outings on Friday, especially in FP2 as he said he “didn’t feel great.” He finished in P4 by 0.092s to the lead.
Both Red Bull had less than ideal practice sessions but they always surprise. Verstappen flew through Albert Park as the clock ticked with minutes to the end, dethroning then-leader Sainz. However, teammate Sergio Perez didn’t have the same luck, and finished in a rather disappointing P7.
Alexander Albon, who’ll race using Logan Sargeant’s car after crashing his, completed his final practice outing in P13 with the soft compound tire in the middle of both Sauber cars, with Valtteri Bottas in 12th and Guanyu Zhou in 13th.
For McLaren things weren’t as good as they hoped. Local celebrity Oscar Piastri claimed P8 (+0.373s) and teammate Lando Norris followed in P10 (-0.776s) behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, whose teammate Fernando Alonso achieved P6 behind both Mercedes.
Pierre Gasly was once again a showcase of Alpine’s disastrous season start, as he was down 1.676 seconds from the top, right at the bottom of the timing charts.