George Russell put in a late effort to beat Max Verstappen to P1 in the final practice for the Las Vegas GP, two-tenths up on Max Verstappen.
Neither McLaren was on track in the final few minutes, Oscar Piastri having lost telemetry while Lando Norris’ MCL39 was not safe electrically.
George Russell grabs the final practice P1
Daytime showers meant the track was declared wet ahead of FP3, but already it was drying in the build-up to the session. The track temperature was down to 13’C.
After a few minutes of silence, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton ventured out with the McLaren driver, running the inters, reporting that “at the moment it’s too wet for slicks”. He clocked a 1:47.1 with his tyre “starting to die already” near the end of the lap.
Lewis Hamilton found himself the wrong way up the Turn 17 escape road, Max Verstappen got a little too close to the Turn 5 wall, and Lando Norris was fighting the back end of his McLaren through the corners.
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15 minutes in, Carlos Sainz reported that it was “almost” time for slicks… and then his teammate Alex Albon went flying into the Turn 5 escape road.
Piastri regained P1 with a 1:43.8, putting him six-tenths up on Hamilton with Verstappen a further 0.05s down.
As the track continued to dry out and evolve, Piastri went quicker but it was Norris who was quickest of all after 20 minutes with a 1:43.0.
A slow puncture sent Yuki Tsunoda back to the garage where Red Bull removed his RB21’s engine cover and made a few changes to the car. He was down in 12th place, two seconds down on Verstappen.
With rain forecast for late in the session, Norris was the first driver out on slicks as McLaren bolted a set of softs onto his MCL39 midway through the session.
Kimi Antonelli was told Norris’ soft tyres look a “mile off at the moment”. Slipping, sliding and cutting corners, it was a tricky lap for the championship leader.
Hamilton and Liam Lawson had a close encounter, too close, as the Ferrari driver came screaming up behind the Racing Bull driver and had to take to the escape road. Lawson had cars, including a Red Bull and a McLaren, ahead of him that were backing him up.
Swapping onto slicks ahead of the forecast rain, Verstappen went quickest before he was pipped by Tsunoda and then Leclerc. Further back, Gabriel Bortoleto was all over the track in his Sauber, twitching and sliding through the corners.
With 10 minutes to go, and still no sign of rain, Verstappen hit the front with a 1:35.6, two-tenths up on Leclerc. A lock up from Piastri cost him as backed off, down in 18th place. His teammate Norris returned to the garage but his MCL39 was declared unsafe, leaving the McLaren mechanics unable to touch the car until that passed. Piastri was back in the garage as well
Laying down quali sims, Lawson went quickest, then Alonso, Russell and Albon. But it was Verstappen who finishes it with a 1:34.281.
Las Vegas Grand Prix, Free Practice 3 results
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:35.646
2. George Russell, Mercedes, 1:35.734 (+ 0.088)
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:35.908 (+ 0.262)
4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:36.284 (+ 0.638)
5. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:36.482 (+ 0.836)
6. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:36.521 (+ 0.875)
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:36.650 (+ 1.004)
8. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, 1:36.667 (+ 1.021)
9. Alex Albon, Williams, 1:36.747 (+ 1.101)
10. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:36.944 (+ 1.298)
11. Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:37.008 (+ 1.362)
12. Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:37.112 (+ 1.466)
13. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:37.121 (+ 1.475)
14. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 1:37.475 (+ 1.829)
15. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:37.483 (+ 1.837)
16. Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:38.010 (+ 2.364)
17. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:38.138 (+ 2.492)
18. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:38.164 (+ 2.518)
19. Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:38.514 (+ 2.868)
20. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:40.311 (+ 4.665)
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