Charles Leclerc set the pace in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix as Ferrari look to the track to battle Red Bull for pole position later today.
However, with three-tenths of a second separating the top seven, it's anyone's guess who will take pole position in a session where many drivers struggled to make their soft tires work.
Charles Leclerc overtakes Max Verstappen in final practice
Only 19 drivers were preparing to take to the track with Logan Sargent for the start of FP3 in Melbourne, but Williams controversially gave the car to Alex Albon after he retired in FP1. Therefore, he declined to participate.
Lewis Hamilton was nowhere to be seen in the Mercedes garage as Sargent watched from the pit wall. His team was still working on the W15 after the disastrous Friday in the UK and had made significant set-up changes.
Red Bull took advantage of the quiet course and Sergio Perez took sole possession of first place with a time of 1 minute 19.2 seconds. Max Verstappen complained that his brakes were “not engaging” and his P1 only trailed his teammate by 0.6 seconds.
Perez also complained about the brakes, lowering his benchmark to 1:17.9, setting the fastest time. Verstappen responded with a time of 1:17.1 and returned to the pits after seven laps.
Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari ahead of Charles Leclerc, with his Mercedes teammate and Albon also competing. However, only seven drivers recorded lap times in the first 20 minutes.
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When told that he had fallen behind Verstappen on the main straight, a surprised Hamilton replied: “1.1 in a straight line!'' He was eighth, George Russell sixth.
Sainz replaced his Red Bull teammate with a time of 1:16.7, giving him a three-tenths lead over Verstappen as Fernando Alonso became the 19th and final driver to set the time. I did. He recorded his first flying lap, putting Aston Martin driver P13 on the timesheet.
Leclerc finished 1-2 for his Ferrari and complained about traffic – “One thing's for sure, there's an Aston Martin on track” – while Russell was fifth and Hamilton sixth rose in rank.
Pirelli brought in its softest tire, the C5, on the traditional soft tires at the end of the session, with Albon already complaining on his flying lap that “by Turn 9 the rear was completely gone”.
Oscar Piastri combined his qualifying simulations between Ferrari and Red Bull and made notable progress initially. However, most drivers had the same tire life issues as Albon, and in the end it was Sainz's medium tire time of 1:16.791 that took the win.
That was until Leclerc and Verstappen slowly took a lead on the second flying lap. Leclerc was first with a time of 1 minute 16.714 seconds, 0.020 seconds ahead of Verstappen and 0.077 seconds behind Sainz.
times
1 Charles Leclerc 1:16.714
2 Max Verstappen +0.020
3 Carlos Sainz +0.077
4 Lewis Hamilton +0.092
5 George Russell +0.172
6 Fernando Alonso +0.283
7 Sergio Perez +0.300
8 Oscar Piastri +0.373
9 Lance Stroll +0.627
10 Lando Norris +0.776
11 Hiroki Tsunoda +0.959
12 Valtteri Bottas +1.038
13 Alexander Albon +1.045
14 Zhou Guanyu +1.162
15 Esteban Ocon +1.206
16 Nico Hulkenberg +1.227
17 Kevin Magnussen +1.247
18 Daniel Ricciardo +1.249
19 Pierre Gasly +1.67
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