Norris tops McLaren 1-2 in FP3 with Verstappen close again

Lando Norris was again the benchmark during final practice for the Austrian Grand Prix as the McLaren Formula 1 squad showed its domination in Spielberg.

Having sat out FP1, Norris set the pace in FP2 and again in FP3, his time of 1m04.324s enough to beat team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri by a little over a tenth of a second.

There was no queue in the pitlane as the lights went green at the start of the session, a number of drivers milling around in their respective garages in the cooler conditions, although the temperature rose during the session and is expected to continue to do so heading into qualifying.

Norris ran wide on a couple of occasions, while Piastri very nearly spun at Turn 9 having carried too much speed into the corner and dipping into the gravel.

Isack Hadjar completed a pirouette at the final corner in an eye-catching moment as he ultimately managed to keep his Racing Bulls car facing in the right direction.

Both Norris and Piastri admitted on Friday that they were worried Max Verstappen will close the gap on them heading into qualifying and the reigning world champion was again closest to the McLarens in FP3, 0.210s shy of Norris – with the Dutchman also having a spin towards the end of running.

Ferrari showed improvement following a forgettable Friday as Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, while the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were next in line.

Lance Stroll had been up in fourth after FP2 and was eighth on Saturday morning, with the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top 10.

F1 Austrian Grand Prix FP3 results