Lando Norris topped the final practice session for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix with Oscar Piastri second fastest as Max Verstappen was best of the rest.
Norris delivered a 1:04.324 lap to go fastest at the end of FP3 which was 0.118s faster than Piastri in second while Verstappen was two tenths off the pace in third.
The four-time Formula 1 champion ran a different program to his rivals as he was on the Hard tyre for most of the session and only switched to the Soft tyre towards the end of the session for a qualifying simulation.
It appears that Red Bull Racing have found some pace compared to Friday, with Verstappen now in the fight for pole a few hours later today.
The came the Ferraris as Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest, 0.250s off the pace while Lewis Hamilton was fifth, 0.216s behind his teammate.
After topping FP1 on Friday with George Russell, Mercedes seems to have dropped down the order as the Briton was sixth fastest at the end of FP3, seventh tenths down on Norris' time while Kimi Antonello was seventh in the sister car, over seven tenths too slow.
Lance Stroll continued his strong showing in Spielberg so far and was eighth fastest for Aston Martin while Fernando Alonso was 12th.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth in the other Red Bull as Gabriel Bortoleto - also showing strong form this weekend - was tenth in the Sauber.
Buildup towards FP3
McLaren finished Friday in Spielberg on top and comfortably so, as they were over three tenths quicker than Verstappen in the Red Bull as Norris seemed to enjoy the new suspension on his MCL39 being the faster McLaren driver despite missing out on FP1, handing his car over the impressive Alex Dunne.
Mercedes were a bit confusing to be honest as Russell was fastest in FP1 when temperatures were higher but then dropped in FP2 when the track cooled down which was contrary to what we have come to see from their W16.
Verstappen wasn't upset after Friday's action and reported no major issues with the car but some understeer that he would like Red Bull to eradicate overnight. The team are known to finding gains between Friday and Saturday while the Honda power unit will be turned up today which should bring Verstappen into contention.
Ferrari didn't have the best of days, as they tried to get to grips with their upgrades, Leclerc faring better than Hamilton who struggled once again while also suffering gearbox issues in FP1.
The Williams did not have a good Friday while Sauber with Bortoleto in particular showed strong pace making the top ten so how will the weekend for those two continue?
There were some drops of rain on Friday but that is where things stayed so conditions remained dry. Will that be the case for FP3 and then qualifying?
FP3 Session Highlights
The session started in clear conditions with track temperatures dropping to 33 degrees Celsius while the air temperature was 24 degrees.
Minutes ahead of the session, Russell's Mercedes was sitting in the garage without its front wing with mechanics working on putting it together.
It was a slow start for the session as drivers remained in their respective garages, some not even seated in their cars when the green light at the end of the pitlane was illuminated.
But almost five minutes into the session, the action started with Alonso, Stroll, and Verstappen making their way out on track. Then Franco Colapinto joined them.
15 minutes into the session, the action was still at a low level, but Verstappen was busy putting in the laps and reported that the rear of his RB21 was nervous once he put his foot down getting out of Turn 6 and the final corner and that he was suffering from a snap. He was running the Hard tyres.
Norris the posted his first lap time, on Softs going 0.156s faster than Verstappen (on Hards) but then goes deep into Turn 1 and ran wide.
20 minutes into the session and both Mercedes and Williams did not send any of their drivers out on track.
Leclerc had to abort his lap after a snap of oversteer, with Hamilton suffering as well, his car snapping into Turn 1. Colapinto, on the other hand, locked up and went wide at Turn 3.
Antonelli ran wide in Turn 5 and dipped a his right side wheels into the gravel but kept going. Piastri had a wide moment at Turn 1.
Hamilton, once again suffered from a snap of oversteer while heading into Turn 1 and ran wide into the run-off area.
Then Piastri ran wide on the kerbs and dipped a wheel in the gravel coming out of Turn 9, a massive moment and the Aussie was lucky to keep his car in check and not crash.
"You'll need to check the floor obviously," Piastri radioed after that.
Norris after that was out of shape coming out of Turn 1, but kept going, no drama. That corner continued to catch out drivers during the session.
Then Isack Hadjar got lucky as he performed a 360 spin in the final corner, after dipping a tyre in the gravel and not lifting. His car spun and found it's way back on track without touching the barriers, and pointed in the right direction.
"Sorry," the Frenchman giggled over the radio.
In the meantime, Verstappen was in the Red Bull garage with the mechanics working on his RB21, the floor in particular.
McLaren mechanics were also working on Piastri's floor which seemed to have been damaged after his kerb-riding moment at Turn 9.
Verstappen soon rejoined with Soft tyres on his car and went on with a qualifying simulation which other drivers have been doing for some time.
The Dutchman was running a different program starting with the Hard having run the Softs on Friday.
Norris, at the same time was on a fast lap, but had to abort after messing up Turn 3.
With a little over three minutes remaining, Tsunoda brought out a brief Yellow flag after a moment at Turn 3.
Verstappen also performed a 360 in the final corner, but kept going. He quipped on the radio: " A little 360."
The session was concluded with practice starts. McLaren sent Norris out with flow vis on the front right side of his MCL39.
Austrian GP FP3 Classification
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