Leclerc steals ultra tight FP3

There is an air of anticipation heading into qualifying with less than a tenth covering the top four in Free Practice 3 led by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at Albert Park.

Leclerc snatched the fastest lap honours from Max Verstappen by posting a 1:16.714 after the chequered flag.

Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz led the majority of the session but had to settle for third while Lewis Hamilton was also within a tenth.

All up the top eight stretching back to McLaren home hero Oscar Piastri, who was only 0.373s adrift, while Daniel Ricciardo was down in 18th, seven spots lower than teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Due to drivers struggling to string three strong sectors together on the Softs, the session has opened a can of worms as to what tyres to use in qualifying due to the Mediums performing so well.

Sainz’s 1:16.791 was set with the yellow walled tyre as early as his first run and stood all the way until after the chequered flag when Verstappen and Leclerc both surged ahead on the softer compound.

Only 19 cars took part in the session due to Williams deciding Alex Albon should over Logan Sargeant’s chassis following the Thai driver’s heavy FP1 crash.

Oscar Piastri was the leading McLaren in eighth in FP3, not far off the top pace. Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images

For the first time this weekend overcast skies and cool conditions of 18 degrees greeted the grid for the pre-qualifying practice.

Red Bull was the first team to roll out with Verstappen claiming his “brakes were not working” over the radio.

Despite the claim the reigning champion still went six tenths faster then Perez on their opening push laps.

Perez then hit back to lower the benchmark to a 1:17.927.

Ferrari was focusing on long runs on the Medium compound and Sainz found some strong speed.

On the sixth lap of his opening stint, Sainz was the first into the 1m16s window with a 1:16.791, three tenths faster than Verstappen.

Leclerc initially could not beat the Red Bulls as his best lap was hurt by a mistake exiting the penultimate corner.

On his second set of Mediums the Monegasque driver found more pace to restore a Ferrari 1-2, 0.296s adrift.

Interestingly the Mediums appeared to be extracting a lot more pace than the Softs in the cooler conditions across the first half of the session.

Hamilton voiced an anxiously on the radio about concerns over a lack of straight line speed on the softest compound.

The seven time world champion was initially losing a second with the foot down before eventually being the first on the Softs to come within a second of Sainz.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell quickly joined him, going a tenth faster and snatching fifth.

After their first runs on the Soft, Aussies Piastri and Ricciardo sat ninth and 16th respectively.

Carlos Sainz led the majority of the session on the medium tyre. Photo by Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

In the final 20 minutes teams started some qualifying simulations on the Softs.

Piastri was one of the first and jumped to seventh with his first lap, but set a purple first sector on his second push lap, which was enough to shoot to third only behind the Ferraris.

The Australian’s response over the radio was “it is amazing what happens when you stop being an idiot going into turn 1.”

Both Mercedes went even faster, splitting the Ferraris with Hamilton quickest by coming within 0.015s of Sainz.

Ferrari strapped on the Softs inside the final seven minutes and despite Sainz setting a purple first sector, he was unable to improve his time.

But the likes of Russell and Leclerc did to ensure less than a tenth covered the top four, while Verstappen struggled to find pace on the Softs in the high speed sections.

However, the Dutchman put it all together by snatching P1 with his final lap of the session, only eclipsing Sainz by just 0.057s. The key was a strong middle sector.

But Leclerc had the final say, also nailing his last lap and knocking off Verstappen by 0.020s.

The reshuffling saw both Mercedes finish ahead of Fernando Alonso and Perez, who fell to seventh.

With such little gaps at the top between the likes Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren, a thrilling qualifying session is ahead at 16.00 AEDT.

2024 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice 3 results

2024 Australian Grand Prix schedule (AEDT)

Friday, March 22

Practice 1: 1: L. Norris 2: M. Verstappen 3: G. Russell

Practice 2: 1: C. Leclerc 2: M. Verstappen 3: C. Sainz

Saturday, March 23

Practice 3: 12.30-13.30

Qualifying: 16.00-17.00

Sunday, March 24

Grand Prix: 15.00

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