FP3: Piastri leads Russell and Verstappen during final practice in Australia as Bearman spins off again

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri posted the fastest time during final practice for the Australian Grand Prix, leading the way from Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Haas rookie Ollie Bearman endured a second costly incident of the weekend.

On another sunny afternoon at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, and amid even warmer temperatures than those seen in Friday’s running, drivers had one more hour of practice to fine-tune their cars and get ready for Qualifying.

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But given that car set-ups are locked in for the rest of the weekend prior to Qualifying, would drivers go with a balanced downforce approach better suited to today’s dry conditions, or load on the wing ahead of what looks set to be a rain-hit race?

One man looking to make up for lost time in final practice was Bearman, who crashed heavily in FP1 and missed FP2 as a result of the damage caused, but he had a session-ending moment just minutes into the action.

Replays showed Bearman dipping a couple of wheels onto the grass under braking for Turn 11, causing a wild spin and leaving him stuck in the gravel trap – shakes of the head from the Briton and his mechanics summing up their frustration.

After a brief red flag that allowed marshals to clear away Bearman’s car, his rivals returned to the track and got stuck into their respective programmes, though Red Bull’s Liam Lawson – who struggled yesterday – was soon forced back to the pits amid apparent recharge issues.

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As the session reached its midway point, via a flurry of soft tyre efforts, the sister RB21 of Verstappen held P1 with a 1m 16.646s, just ahead of high-flying Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz (despite a brush of the Turn 3 wall for the latter).

Verstappen had been set to go even faster with another run on the red-marked rubber, only to hit trouble in the final sector and report that “the car was getting a bit loose”, while Friday pace-setter Charles Leclerc and team mate Lewis Hamilton slotted into P2 and P3 for Ferrari.

Another round of improvements on the soft compound as the chequered flag approached sent the timesheets into a frenzy, with Russell, Verstappen and home favourite Piastri (1m 15.921s) all lowering the benchmark.

While those times came in, and Verstappen appeared to be more comfortable, Lawson’s woes continued as his car sat up on jacks in the garage and Red Bull confirmed a “power unit or power unit system problem on the air side”.

Piastri ultimately finished on top, marginally clear of Russell and Verstappen, who made a mistake exiting Turn 11 on his final soft lap, followed by Leclerc, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli and the Williams machines of Sainz and Albon.

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Hamilton wound up eighth, in front of Yuki Tsunoda’s lead Racing Bulls car, the other McLaren of Lando Norris (who backed out of a promising lap), Kick Sauber newcomer Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the VCARB O2 of Isack Hadjar.

Lance Stroll led the Aston Martin charge in 14th, from the Alpine of Jack Doohan, the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and team mate Fernando Alonso, as Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the sidelined Bearman and Lawson brought up the rear.

Drivers and teams will now catch up in the Albert Park paddock for one final debrief ahead of the 2025 season’s first Qualifying hour later this afternoon – the grid-deciding session scheduled to get under way at 1600 local time.