Verstappen Even Finds Competition, But Drives FP3 In Australia – Formula 1 News

as much as Red Bull He failed to achieve a resounding advantage as in other courses in the 2023 season, Max Verstappen He still led the third and final free practice for Australian Grand PrixSaturday afternoon (1) in Melbourne – still Friday night in Brazil. The world championship leader did enough to put 0s1 ahead Fernando Alonsowho was right behind you.

▶️ Subscribe to each of the major YouTube PRIZE channels: GP | GP2
▶️ Discover the GRAND PRIZE channel on Twitch by clicking here!

Verstappen only put on soft tires at the 20-minute mark at the end of the activity and, almost immediately, left a time of 1min17s565 in qualifying sprint to ensure the best time of the day and reach the starting grid definition later with the usual favoritism.

If Alonso was in the usual position as the closest to Red Bull, third place was even more unusual: Esteban Oconin Alps Which also looks strong in Melbourne. The Frenchman was 0s373 behind Verstappen and was with him Pierre Gasly, Fifth. between the two, George Russell. Sergio PerezAnd Carlos SainzAnd Lewis HamiltonAnd Lance Picnic that it Guanyu Zhou Top 10 closed.

The highlight is Perez, who took about 20 minutes to leave the track due to a problem with the rear side of the Red Bull, and who was released from the car. Even when they were disbanded, life for the Mexican was tough: numerous exits from the ring, complaints of Bollywood’s inconsistency in curves and general anguish. The fact that they are still in sixth place shows the strength of the bulls.

FP3 also had a red-flag outage: the result of a piece of the car’s bodywork breaking off AlphaTauri in Nick de Vries And he stopped in the middle of the track. Which could cause another was Guanyu Zhou, who mismeasured the doorway to turn in two, twisted it and ended up on the wall. Fortunately, I touched lightly and was able to get out.

a jackpot Follows all Australian GP activity from Formula 1 He lives that it in at present. The weekend continues with The Rankings, scheduled at 2:00 AM [de Brasília, GMT-3]from Saturday: GP accompanies with The second screen, in partnership with VOZ DO ESPORTE.

Check out how FP3 works:

As everyone expected, the third and final free practice of the weekend arrived with a lower temperature: 15°C in the environment and the asphalt at 24°C. If rain was a real possibility for the rest of the hour, then none by the time the activity was due to start. The dry course and green lights are drawn normally at the end of the pit lane.

With no long queues to get out on track with the stewards’ permission, Lance Stroll was the first to pace. Companion next to him Fernando Alonso. Ferrari also sent its two drivers for the installation laps, as well as leader Max Verstappen. The duo also left Haas.

The first fast lap came with the leading face of Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz, who was on the soft tires and clocked 1 minute 1901 seconds. Unlike the two practices on Friday, when the activity boiled over on the track in the first five minutes, it was different now. Without much fear of any possible rain, only nine riders were registered in the first ten minutes and not many showed up yet.

On the medium tyres, Max Verstappen took the lead, but Red Bull found themselves facing a problem: Sergio Perez’s car was still in the pits, with the driver not even wearing his helmet and several mechanics around the car. The reason is that one of the side barriers was damaged, which was verified by the team before training.

Despite Verstappen quickly passing the lead, Ferrari regained the position, riding on the soft tyres. Charles Leclerc was next to put a lap into the lead, with 1min 18sec 371, but he was the only one among the first to walk using the more abrasive rubber. Then the time improved again, but the verdict did not last long.

When FP2 got down to 20 minutes, Sainz took the lead again after a short entry by Alonso, now also on the weak. Carlos had a minute, 18, 127 and 0 seconds, ahead of Fernando. Pierre Gasly soon emerged in third place.

Perez was finally able to get on the track after 25 minutes, but he spun out in the back of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, and had to go around the German car in the stretch after turn ten and put two wheels on the grass. I didn’t like it very much. “Why did they put me in this place?” asked Hugh Baird, the personal engineer, who apologized.

Next to digging two wheels into the grass was Kevin Magnussen, who had his share of trips off the track in these three free practices. It was 13 o’clock, after a braking incident, but he managed to get back in front of Alexander Albon. Only a yellow flag, but an even bigger problem will follow.

Once he passed the halfway mark for practice, the red flag came out and he stopped the activity. The reason was a piece of the car’s bodywork, which broke off and was left in the middle of the track. It was initially unclear who owned the car lot, but it was later revealed to be an AlphaTauri by Nyck de Vries. A large gap was left on the right side of the AT04.

Meanwhile, in the garage, Pérez had trouble on the backside again. Meanwhile, the schedules marked Sainz, Alonso, Gasly, Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Verstappen, Albon, Stroll, Lewis Hamilton and Logan Sargeant. Only Verstappen, of those, recorded a lap on the medium tyres. At this point, in fact, only the Dutchman, Lando Norris, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Guanyu Zou had recorded the best middleweight lap.

After only 3 minutes, training resumed. Once he left, Perez made a miss and went parade into the road’s third bend gravel. It didn’t crash, but it served to destroy the set of soft tires I wore for a qualifying simulation. “I don’t feel the car. Is it all right? I can’t brake in turn one, the back is too loose, then the front locks up completely in turn three. It’s very inconsistent in the curves.”

At Mercedes, while Hamilton scored for the second time, George Russell complained that it was difficult to warm the tyres. Even with the problems, he continued into the third period.

A new problem soon followed: Cho, who had just finished fifth on soft tires for an Alfa Romeo, spun on his own after taking a wrong corner and touching the wall. Fortunately for him, nothing more serious.

Over the last 10 minutes more people have appeared at qualifying pace on the soft tyres. Alonso set the best time, but it lasted about ten seconds: Verstappen passed 1min 17sec 565 and beat the veteran by 0s162. What happened next was that Sainz ended up in the gravel trying to get back into the pit lane, because it had started raining in the last five minutes.

F1 2023, Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne, FP3: