Oscar Piastri topped the timesheet in a closely fought FP3 session in Melbourne in which the top three drivers were separated by just over eight-hundredths of a second.

And amongst that top three was Max Verstappen, Red Bull rebounding from the Friday woes that had Verstappen saying they could struggle to even get into Q3.

Oscar Piastri delights home crowd ahead of qualifying

As the sun baked down on the Albert Park circuit, Oliver Bearman was the first driver as he put in his first laps since his FP1 crash. Destroying the right side of the VF-25, he didn’t make it back out in FP2 despite Haas’ best efforts to repair the car.

Red flag! Oh no, it’s Bearman. He dropped a wheel onto the grass, lost the rear of the car and spun into the gravel at Turn 11. His session was over on only his second lap.

Practice Three was underway again with 49 minutes remaining, Bearman’s team-mate Esteban Ocon leading out the field. He got the timesheet rolling with a 1:20.063.

Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen left their garages, the two RB21s running different noses. However, an issue for Lawson “is this major?” had him returning to the garage without a time on the board. Verstappen went P1, a 1:17.632.

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As the action heated up, and the track did too, Oscar Piastri went quickest, Verstappen regained P1 with a 1:16.646, George Russell slotted into second and Lewis Hamilton was up to fourth.

“Can you check the left side of the car?” Carlos Sainz asked Williams. “I might have touched the wall.” It was a bit more than a touch, more a whack, but Sainz still went P6.

Halfway through the session, Verstappen was ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Norris and Sainz. Verstappen, meanwhile, complained his car was a “bit loose”.

As for Lewis Hamilton, he was down in 10th place and X seconds slower than Verstappen’s P1 time. Told he is “seven-tenths” down, he questioned: “Okay but where is that time?”

Adami: “Turn 6 and Turn 10.”
Hamilton: “7 tenths in Turn 6 and Turn 10?
Adami: “Yep.”

He shot up to P3 on his next flying lap, slashing his deficit to Verstappen to just 0.031s. He was only 0.001 slower than Leclerc.

Bolting a fresh set of soft tyres onto the Williams F1 cars, Alex Albon and Sainz shot up to second and third places, make that third and fourth as Verstappen regained P1 off George Russell with a 1:16.002. As for his team-mate, Red Bull announced that Lawson remained in the garage due to a “PU or PU system problem on the air side”.

Piastri looked set to challenge Verstappen, but traffic cost him in the final sector, that also hurting Norris. After a cooldown lap, the Aussie was back on it and hit the front – the first driver into the 1:15s with a 1:15.921.

Leclerc put in a late run to go fourth behind Piastri, Russell and Verstappen. The top three were separated by 0.081s.

FP3 times from the Australian GP

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:15.921
2 George Russell Mercedes +0.039
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.081
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.267
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.285
6 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.331
7 Alexander Albon Williams +0.337
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrar +0.457
9 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +0.534
10 Lando Norris McLaren +0.676
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.786
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.811
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.900
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.027
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +1.124
16 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.225
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.349
18 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.452
19 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team no time
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing no time

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