McLaren concluded the practice sessions for the Austrian Grand Prix with Lando Norris finishing fastest, leading his teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri in a McLaren one-two. Red Bull`s Max Verstappen was third on the timesheets.
Norris, currently second overall and 22 points behind Piastri after 10 of the season`s 24 races, set the fastest lap at the Red Bull Ring with a time of 1:04.324. This was 0.118 seconds quicker than the Australian`s best effort.
Verstappen was 0.210 seconds off Norris`s pace. He experienced a significant spin at the final corner towards the end of the session. Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc finished fourth, with Lewis Hamilton in fifth place.
Austrian Grand Prix FP3: Top 10
There was an identical top three to FP2 (and the championship) in FP3, though Ferrari did improve, too.
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:04.324 |
| 2. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.118 |
| 3. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.210 |
| 4. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.250 |
| 5. Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.466 |
| 6. George Russell | Mercedes | +0.694 |
| 7. Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.729 |
| 8. Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.738 |
| 9. Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.815 |
| 10. Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | +0.858 |
McLaren cars topped two of the three practice sessions this weekend. Mercedes` George Russell was fastest in the opening one on Friday but dropped to sixth in the much warmer conditions on Saturday.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff commented on their performance to Sky Sports, stating their session “went a little bit belly-up” due to the heat. He explained, “We were quite competitive until the end and then you can see really it goes above a certain threshold of temperature and we lose performance.”
Wolff also noted the strength of their rivals: “The McLarens in high-speed [corners] is going to be very difficult to match.” He added that changes made yesterday and the drastic increase in track temperature from 33 to 42 degrees Celcius during the session made a big difference to their performance.
Mercedes` other driver, Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli, finished seventh, ahead of Lance Stroll of Aston Martin in eighth. Red Bull`s Yuki Tsunoda was ninth, and Sauber`s Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.
Norris`s strong performance follows him also topping Friday`s second session. He appears determined after a difficult race in Canada two weeks ago where he failed to score points.
