Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in final practice from Verstappen

Lando Norris has kept McLaren’s clean sheet intact atop the Imola leaderboard in Saturday’s third practice session for F1’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Norris headed McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri with Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen in third.

Amid searing track temperatures in Imola few teams were in a rush to head out early.

Lewis Hamilton briefly headed the early running before being demoted by Piastri and then Verstappen. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar also enjoyed a brief moment in the lead as the track grip ramped up.

By the halfway point most of the medium-tyre running was coming to an end with Verstappen leading the way courtesy of a 1m15.078s.

Teams then switched to qualifying simulations on softs, using Pirelli’s new C6 compound.

Initially, Norris was the only driver to improve on Verstappen’s medium-shod benchmark with a 1m154.897s, the first lap below the 1m15 barrier this weekend.

The Briton’s second push lap had to be abandoned after he understeered off at Tamburello, driving through the gravel trap. Team-mate Piastri clocked a 1m14.997s, exactly one tenth slower.

After initially not improving on his first soft-tyre run, losing time in the second and third sectors, Verstappen re-appeared in the final minutes of the one-hour session but again couldn’t string a quicker lap together, ending the session 0.181s in arrears.

Aboard the Mercedes, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli took fourth just over half a second behind the McLaren, while team-mate George Russell had a less comfortable time with the ride quality of the Silver Arrow.

Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, while Carlos Sainz continued a promising start to the weekend for Williams in sixth. Hadjar eventually settled for seventh, with Russell, the second Williams of Alex Albon and the remaining Ferrari of Hamilton completing the top 10.

The session was completed without major incidents, barring an innocuous spin for RB’s Liam Lawson in Tamburello.

Yuki Tsunoda was a low-key 17th after complaining of “zero grip” in the Red Bull, while series returnee Franco Colapinto settled for 18th aboard the Alpine.

Qualifying for Imola’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, set to be the last one at the classic Italian venue for the time being, will kick off at 4:00 pm local time.

F1 Imola GP – FP3 results