Once again three different teams, in the top three, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, with two cars, with Oscar Piastri finishing fourth behind Lando Norris, with a slightly larger gap from first to third. After Red Bull (Verstappen), Ferrari (Leclerc), now it was George Russell (Mercedes W15) to lead the final free practice session, having beaten Charles Leclerc (Ferrari SF-24) by 0.013 seconds with Lando Norris (McLaren MCL38-Mercedes) in third with a time of 0.223 seconds.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren MCL38-Mercedes) was fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari SF-24), Max Verstappen (Red Bull RB20 Honda RBPT), Sergio Pérez (Red Bull RB20 Honda RBPT) and Alexander Albon (Williams FW46/Mercedes) ahead of Franco Colapinto (Williams FW46 Mercedes) in ninth, with the Williams duo rounding out the top ten, which was closed out by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W15).
Among them are Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin AMR24-Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (RB VCARB 01 Honda RBPT), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin AMR24-Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (RB VCARB 01 Honda RBPT), Pierre Gasly (Alpine A524 Renault), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas VF-24-Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (KIC Sauber C44 Ferrari) and Zhou Guanyu (KIC Sauber C44 Ferrari).
After three red flags on Friday in free practice, today in FP3, two with Esteban Ocon (Alpine A524 Renault) stopping on the track and an accident for Oliver Biermann (Haas VF-24 -Ferrari), who failed to apply the brakes at the end of the finishing straight and hit the barriers on the run-off, instead hitting the barriers with his left front.
Considering what was seen in this third free practice session, the battle will be very big in qualifying in all its stages, and this is on a track where it is easy to have yellow flags, or even red flags, as we have seen, and this can have a big impact on the records, as it is all about luck or bad luck.
Furthermore, there is the issue of the suction cone, the difference between achieving it and not achieving it is huge.
The qualification has everything to be very balanced, as was the case in the last qualifications.
This will be a qualification with the potential for surprises in the first division, precisely because of all the factors that gain great importance on a track like this.
Melody Gross is a contributor at Brytfmonline.com, covering a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, technology, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is committed to delivering clear, accurate, and reader-focused reporting that helps audiences stay informed about current events and important developments. With a focus on useful information and balanced storytelling, Melody aims to present timely stories and relevant insights in a way that is accessible, engaging, and easy to understand.