Charles Leclerc kept Ferrari on top in F1 Austrian GP third practice session beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
After a scrappy FP2 session in F1 Austrian GP, the FP3 session worked well for Leclerc as he kept Ferrari on top with a 1m03.987s – the only one to dip into the 1m03s bracket – to beat the Mercedes duo of Hamilton (1m04.130s) and Bottas (1m04.221s).
Once again Leclerc looked the better of the two Ferrari drivers on a circuit where he has excelled in the lower divisions as Sebastian Vettel was only fourth with a 1m04.350s, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1m04.446s) slotting in fifth.
The two Red Bull were split by McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m04.986s) in sixth with Pierre Gasly (1m05.152s) seventh after the Frenchman faced software issues with his Honda engine. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m05.219s) ended up eighth.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m05.336s) and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat (1m05.391s) with Alexander Albon (1m05.481s) – having taken another new power unit – slotted in 11th ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m05.514s).
The other Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen (1m05.514s) slotted in 13th with the Finn registering the same time as Hulkenberg. The lead Racing Point of Sergio Perez (1m05.523s) was 14th and Haas of Romain Grosjean (1m05.620s) in 15th.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m05.650s) was 16th with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m05.878s) only 17th from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m06.617s) and the Williams pair of George Russell (1m06.676s) and Robert Kubica (1m07.484s).
Austrian GP: Hamilton leads Vettel on soft tyre as FP1 ends under red flag
Austrian GP: Leclerc tops FP2 after crashes for Verstappen and Bottas
