Max Verstappen stormed to the top of the times as Mercedes fell back. Hamilton missed out on a final qualifying simulation run due to an unspecified issue while Bottas continues to look uncomfortable around the desert.
Report
After the Formula 2 cars helped to rubber in the track, FP3 showed the most representative times so far.
It was a fairly uneventful session overall, with standard running until the the cars set their fastest laps in the final 15 minutes
Top of the grid
Hamilton and Bottas appeared to be in control at the front of the grid, but Verstappen bested their time by 0.2s with 10 minutes to go. He would retain this position and appears to be set up well for qualifying. Albon also improved after a disastrous performance yesterday, finishing 4th, but was still 0.6s off his team-mate’s pace.
Hamilton took a lot of screen time at the end of the session as mechanics flurried around around his car. He set out for a final run but ground to a halt at the end of the pitlane. As of writing, there is no indication of what the issue may have been.
Mid-pack
The midfield battle was tight yet again, but McLaren won out with Sainz 5th and Norris 7th. An encouraging prospect for their tense constructors fight. Gasly yet again surprised, sandwiching the Papaya cars. His team-mate also performed well, just behind in 8th.
The Racing Points fell behind in this session, only just scraping the top 10. Renault also suffered falling to 11th and 12th with Ricciardo in front.
Bringing up the rear
Ferrari did not improve from yesterday and could only manage 13th and 15th. Vettel finished ahead, but the lack of pace will make this a hollow victory.
Just behind, Giovinazzi managed to climb to 14th while Russell showed an encouraging improvement to go 16th. He was followed by Grosjean and Magnussen while Raikkonen and Latfi rounded out the grid.
Verstappen topping final practice would not have been a fancied prediction after Mercedes’ strong performance yesterday. The Dutchman was buoyed at the end of the session and will be looking for his first pole since Brazil 2019.
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