Austrian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Lewis Hamilton regains the lead
After two sessions dominated by Max Verstappen, it's Lewis Hamilton who finished first in the timing sheet in this third free practice session. The Briton is ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.
While rain was forecasted for this third practice session, it was a bright sun that awaited the drivers.
At the start of the session, it was the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso who exchanged the best laps on the track. Following rain earlier in the morning, the track was improving lap after lap, allowing George Russell in his modest Williams to set the fastest lap of the session after 20 minutes.
The first yellow flag of the session occurred at midday, caused by a spin from Nikita Mazepin at the first corner. The Haas still seems just as difficult to drive this weekend despite being closer to Williams in terms of performance.
Towards the end of Free Practice 3, it was the Mercedes that showed the fastest pace in qualifying. Lewis Hamilton set a time of 1’04’369 with his teammate Valtteri Bottas just under 5 tenths behind. Verstappen, who had finished first in the two Friday sessions, found himself 6 tenths behind his title rival.
Finally at the end of the session, there are two tenths separating Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, which promises us a very interesting qualifying session.
Result of the FP3:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’04’369 | 19 | |
| 2 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1’04’573 | +0.002 | 16 |
| 3 | Bottas | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’04’832 | +0.005 | 25 |
| 4 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1’05’026 | +0.097 | 21 |
| 5 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1’05’150 | +0.098 | 23 |
| 6 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1’05’298 | +0.099 | 22 |
| 7 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’05’340 | +0.100 | 21 |
| 8 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1’05’400 | +0.101 | 24 |
| 9 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’05’445 | +0.101 | 18 |
| 10 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’05’492 | +0.101 | 20 |
| 11 | Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’05’556 | +0.102 | 24 |
| 12 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1’05’676 | +0.103 | 22 |
| 13 | Sainz Jr. | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’05’698 | +0.103 | 22 |
| 14 | Russell | Williams Racing | 1’05’863 | +0.105 | 23 |
| 15 | Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’05’942 | +0.106 | 25 |
| 16 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1’05’992 | +0.106 | 24 |
| 17 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1’06’116 | +0.198 | 20 |
| 18 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1’06’119 | +0.198 | 22 |
| 19 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1’06’654 | +0.203 | 19 |
| 20 | Mazepin | Haas F1 Team | 1’06’692 | +0.203 | 22 |
