Charles Leclerc managed to maintain Ferrari’s lead in the timesheets during the final practice session on Saturday for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, slightly ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate Carlos Sainz.
The session at Albert Park, which was cooler and more overcast compared to the previous day’s practice, saw Sainz setting the pace early on with medium tyres. However, a late strategy switch to soft tyres by the Ferrari and Red Bull teams led to some performance boosts.
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The difference between the two tyre compounds on the streets of Melbourne was minimal, requiring several laps for any significant improvements in lap times. Ultimately, Leclerc emerged top with a lap time of 1m 16.714s, narrowly outpacing Verstappen by a mere fraction of a second.
Sainz continued to showcase strong performance, securing third with a slight margin behind, with the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell demonstrating improved competitiveness to claim fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Fernando Alonso placed his Aston Martin in sixth, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez following in seventh. Oscar Piastri, as the leading Australian driver, secured eighth place for McLaren, trailing Leclerc’s leading time by only 0.373 seconds, highlighting the tight pack.
Completing the top 10 were Lance Stroll and Lando Norris in the second Aston Martin and McLaren cars, followed by Yuki Tsunoda for RB, Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo Sauber, and Alex Albon for Williams, marking the only Williams entry.
Williams grabbed attention on Friday when Albon’s crash in the first practice session resulted in a total loss of his chassis. Without a replacement available, the team decided to switch him into Logan Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend, sidelining the American driver.
Zhou Guanyu finished 14th for Alfa Romeo Sauber, ahead of Esteban Ocon, the Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo in the second RB, and Pierre Gasly for Alpine, who struggled to secure a clean lap on the soft tyres.
After a relatively calm session compared to the bustling first and second practice sessions on Friday, drivers and teams prepare for qualifying, set to start at 16:00 local time.
Australian GP FP3 Results
2024 Australian Grand Prix, 23 March 2024
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:16.714 | 22 | |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:16.734 | +0.020s | 28 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:16.791 | +0.077s | 20 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:16.806 | +0.092s | 20 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:16.886 | +0.172s | 23 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:16.997 | +0.283s | 20 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:17.014 | +0.300s | 28 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.087 | +0.373s | 19 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:17.341 | +0.627s | 22 |
| 10 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.490 | +0.776s | 22 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 1:17.673 | +0.959s | 19 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:17.752 | +1.038s | 20 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:17.759 | +1.045s | 23 |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:17.876 | +1.162s | 19 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:17.920 | +1.206s | 18 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:17.941 | +1.227s | 17 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:17.961 | +1.247s | 18 |
| 18 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 1:17.963 | +1.249s | 20 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:18.390 | +1.676s | 19 |
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