George Russell threw the gauntlet down to the rest of his Formula 1 rivals ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time of the weekend so far, a blistering 1:19.053 in the final moments of FP3. Rivals were left impressed with Mercedes’ race pace in FP2, with some claiming that they were a second faster, and Russell certainly added fuel to the fire with his time, which was 0.616 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton in second.
A stop-start final practice saw many gremlins pop up as teams came to terms with the new regulations, putting their cars in qualifying trim and pushing them to the limit. Carlos Sainz’ Williams came to a halt just outside the pit-lane, necessitating a red-flag, while teammate Alexander Albon also had multiple issues throughout the session.
While Russell’s time put Mercedes as clear favourites for the season, it wasn’t all good news, as Kimi Antonelli had a massive shunt in the latter stages of final practice, leaving his car in pieces. With FP3 running late, qualifying might be delayed, but it still might not be enough time for Mercedes engineers to put Antonelli’s car back together.
Ferrari remain the only team likely to pose a challenge to Mercedes this weekend, with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc trading fastest times in the early part of the session. Leclerc finished third, around 0.1 seconds behind his teammate, but 0.774 seconds behind Russell.
McLaren would also be left concerned with Mercedes’ pace ahead of qualifying, with Oscar Piastri setting the fourth-fastest time, but over a second down on Russell. World champion Lando Norris continued to struggle with his pace, setting the eighth-fastest time of the session.
Max Verstappen was heard complaining on the radio about his steering column in the final moments of final practice, and that perhaps explains why he was slower than teammate Isaac Hadjar (5th), setting the sixth-fastest time overall.
Aston Martin’s troubles continued, with Lance Stroll unable to set a time with an engine issue, although Fernando Alonso was able to manage 20 laps while even beating the Cadillacs on time. The Spaniard’s fastest lap was 3.667 slower than Russell, but enough to be within the qualifying margin of 107%.
Arvid Lindblad once again beat teammate Liam Lawson for pace, with the 18-year-old rookie setting the eleventh-fastest time, with Lawson not too far behind. Gabriel Bortoleto continued Audi’s impressive outing with the ninth-fastest time, while Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 10 in his Haas.
