Norris flies through final practice in Austria

Lando Norris flew through the final hour of practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, cementing himself as a hot favourite for the upcoming fight for pole position under sunny skies in Spielberg. 

Despite having just one hour remaining ahead of an all-important qualifying session to set the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix, all 20 drivers showed no signs of rushing out of their garages as the light went green to kickstart FP3. 

The silence was broken by the most experienced driver of the lot, Fernando Alonso when he made the journey out onto the Red Bull Ring ahead of his teammate and the crowd favourite Dutchman. 

Entertaining the ‘orange army’, Max Verstappen sped through the lap to set the first time of the hour, recording a time of 1:06.131s to start a session that only truly gained momentum after 15 minutes of trepidation.

Having completed a handful of laps, Verstappen had some unfavourable feedback for the Red Bull pit wall when he reported that his RB21 was “a bit nervous getting back on throttle” and was “a bit snappy” through Turn 6 and at the final corner. 

Despite his discomfort, the Dutchman continued to tour his team’s home circuit as his rivals gradually started to follow suit.

Oscar Piastri was one of those drivers who appeared on the circuit shortly after, finding himself as the third fastest car on track with an initial time of 1:05.794s on the soft compound tyre.

That lap placed the Australian almost four-tenths behind his benchmark-holding teammate and notably two-tenths behind the hard command-running Verstappen in P2. 

Turn 1 was a difficult braking zone for many drivers — Piastri included when the McLaren driver had to take to the run-off area to avoid a run-in with the abrasive sausage kerbs. 

Piastri worked to reduce his initial lap by almost four-tenths before he returned to the pitlane, analysing the data that placed him in P3 during a brief lull. 

With 25 minutes on the clock, the #81 returned to the track, however, only momentarily after he avoided a dicey moment through the gravel at Turn 9, picking up floor damage off the beaten track. 

Tape and glue guns were the weapons of choice for the McLaren mechanics as they worked on a quick fix for the #81 McLaren, having Piastri going again for the final 15 minutes of FP3 where he was soon crowned the fastest driver through the low-speed corners.

Piastri jumped into P2, tracking just 0.118s behind Lando Norris — an interval that remained through to the chequered flag on FP3.

Watching and waiting from the comfort of the Racing Bulls garage for the first 20 minutes of Free Practice 3, Liam Lawson completed his first flying run on the medium compound tyre, however, it was a lacklustre attempt that left him at the back of the pack.

The Kiwi recovered on his next dash, setting three personal best sectors to temporarily move into the top ten before venturing back to the pitlane two laps later. 

Lawson returned to the Red Bull Ring action with 25 minutes on the clock, donning a second set of the medium compound tyre for his second stint.

Touring the 4.3km circuit, the Kiwi only made minor improvements on the timesheets, shaving off just 21 milliseconds from his former attempt to move into P15.

Finally adhering to the popular red-marked trend, Lawson then made the switch to the quicker soft tyre in the final stage of FP3, with the team admittedly saving the majority of its C5 sets for the upcoming Qualifying session.

Recording three personal best sectors across the lap, the Kiwi settled into P9 with a time of 1:05.182s — a lap that remained Lawson’s fastest when the chequered flag waved on the final hour of practice.  

As for the rest of the field, Lando Norris put his MCL39 to work when he stole the early benchmark from Verstappen with a time of 1:05.412s, opening his final practice campaign on the C5 tyre. 

Not having as much fun on their red-marked tyres were the Ferrari drivers, both heavily relying on the various run-off areas throughout the 4.3km lap as they struggled to master braking points.

Charles Leclerc’s early running was also impacted by the almost unavoidable issue of traffic interference across the short circuit, forced to avoid a poorly-stationed Haas and McLaren as he fell to the border of the top ten.

His teammate did a better job of putting his early gremlins behind him, shooting into the top three as the session reached the halfway point, however, Norris remained untouchable in P1 with a revised time of 1:04.888s. 

A second round of silence fell over the Red Bull Ring as the session ticked over the 30-minute mark, with many teams taking a five-minute pause before continuing with their FP3 programs. 

On return, Leclerc finally outpaced his teammate to move into second fastest, however, the likes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli soon spoiled his top-three party.

Commanding the final hour of practice, Norris made his competitors’ attempts look like child’s play when he lit up the timesheet to claim all three fastest sectors, boosting the margin over the Mercedes duo to seven-tenths with a stunning performance of 1:04.324s.

Performing a dance of his own, Isack Hadjar dipped a wheel on the gravel as he approached the final corner, with the #6 VCARB pirouetting onto the main straight before cautiously returning to the pitlane. 

As a result, the French rookie dropped all the way to the back of the order while the remainder of the session ticked by, unable to record a lap on the soft compound tyre. 

The rest of the field was able to do so, however, with the McLaren duo leading the way ahead of their self-proclaimed greatest rival, Verstappen who had completed the most amount of lap of anyone on track. 

Verstappen’s teammate was both on the edge of the top ten and the edge of a premature end to his session, with Yuki Tsunoda bringing out yellow flags at Turn 1 after derailing his lap on the harsh sausage kerb and spinning. 

Antonelli marginally avoided a similar fate, catching his Mercedes after dipping a wheel in the gravel at the final turn while Verstappen performed a casual 360 in the same place, rounding out his productive session as the chequered flag waved on FP3. 

The McLaren duo well and truly cemented themselves as the drivers to beat come the fight for pole position in just a few hours, with Norris holding onto P1 with a time of 1:04.324s ahead of Piastri.

The Austrian Grand Prix crowd’s overwhelming favourite rounded out the top three, with Verstappen heading into Qualifying with two-tenths to make up on the #4.

The hour shootout will kick off at 00:00 AEST, with the field ready to fight for front-row glory in a matter of hours. 

Image: McLaren

Free Practice 3 Results:

2025 Austrian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, June 27:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, June 28:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 29:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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