Las Vegas GP FP3: Russell tops tricky session, Verstappen chases
F1 NewsSaturday, 22 November 2025 at 02:39
George Russell was fastest in a tricky final practice for the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Alex Albon.
Russell topped the session that started in damp conditions as Intermediate tyres were the order of the day due to rain that hit the track earlier.
Over half the session ran in damp conditions as the driver went on with their business on the Intermediate tyres, putting in the laps waiting for the crossover for Slicks.
It was McLaren who pulled the trigger first, sending Lando Norris on Softs and then did the same with Oscar Piastri, but it was too soon, and their lap times were slower than those posted on Intermediates.
But then more drivers followed suit and the times started to improve as the track dried up as drivers went on banging in the lap with several drivers taking turn on occupying the top spot.
However Norris and Piastri did not do any further running towards the end, the former aborting a decent lap in the final sector. The finished the session 19th and 20th which definitely does not reflect their true pace.
With Russell posting the best lap, Verstappen was on his way to better him in the dying moments of the session, but went off-track after going through traffic and settled for second, 0.227s off the Mercedes drivers 1:34.054.
Albon was third fastest, 0.821s off the pace and over two tenths clear of Isack Hadjar who was fourth in the VCARB.
Seven-time Formula 1 Champion, Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest in the Ferrari, 1.215s off the time set by his former teammate with the driver that replaced him at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli in sixth.
Liam Lawson was seventh ahead of Lance Stroll in eighth with Fernando Alonso ninth as Pierre Gasly rounded up the top ten.
Charles Leclerc was 15th, which also did not reflect his actual pace but rather the time of the session at which he posted his best lap.
This means pole position is up for grabs in qualifying later on today with four teams in the mix: McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull Racing with Verstappen that is.
Buildup towards FP3
With an initial practice run on a green track and a second one cut short, the emphasis on the final one to try and find out the pecking order ahead of qualifying.
Teams and drivers have lamented missing out on the collection of data from Thursday and will definitely be looking to FP3 to try and make up for that, but there is so much they can do in one hour.
That fact that it rained again overnight over The Strip means that all the grip the cars created with their running is now gone and we are back to square one.
The track surface is damp which may prove with Race Control announcing it is wet especially off the racing line so expect matters to be tricky for the drivers.
While Norris was fastest after FP2, not all his rivals were able to show their pace with runs on Soft tyres due to the Red Flags.
So will the manhole covers remain in their positions? With the weather disrupt the running any further? Who will emerge as favorite for Qualifying?
Maybe FP3 will give us an idea...
FP3 Session Highlights
The session started with no rain but a damp track that registered a temperature of 14 degrees Celsius as air temperature was 13 degrees.
Drivers took their time heading on on track but soon Piastri and Hamilton made their way out with Intermediate tyres bolted to their cars. Bearman followed.
And it was not a fun ride for any of them as they were sliding all over the place... Piastri gave a report:
After putting in a lap, Piastri gave a tyre update; he radioed: "The tyre is starting to die already but it'd be very nervous on slicks."
Ocon in the Haas and Norris in the other McLaren joined the action - six minutes into the session.
Then, Verstappen, Tsunoda, and Alonso started their track running. The latter on slicks but then drove back to the pits.
Hamilton then had a moment at Turn 1 and went deep, while Verstappen just kept his RB21 out of the barriers after holding a snap at Turn 5. Norris also had a slide.
With ten minutes out of the way, over half the field was already running, but then Albon brought out the Yellow flag after failing to make Turn 5 and ending up in the run-off area.
The drivers kept on putting in the laps in the Inters, waiting for the crossover moment which apparently was not far off as Sainz, 15 minutes into FP3, reported: "It's almost ready for slicks."
Then, 20 minutes into the session, Tsunoda received a message informing him there was an issue in his car and was instructed to box. Apparently, it was a slow puncture...
With 34 minutes remaining, Red Bull Racing informed Verstappen more rain is coming after ten minutes. i.e. In the final 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Leclerc also had a slide at Turn 5 but managed to keep his Ferrari out of the wall. He also suffered from snaps at other corners on his lap.
As the session approached its midway, Norris was the first driver to bolt on the Soft tyres and went out for a run. A brave more given the conditions... Reckless perhaps?
But the Briton's first lap was no good as he was sliding and his MCL39 snapping all over the track and went straight at the chicane at Turn 7... His times were slowed than those posted on Inters.
But then McLaren send Piastri out on slicks as well. Leclerc also shifted to the Softs which Hamilton and Tsunoda also did. Verstappen followed.
Piastri had a moment on the slicks while Hamilton just managed not to rear end a VCARB at Turn 14.
But then, it seems the Soft tyres started to work as Leclerc and Tsunoda jumped to the top of the timing screens, first and second respectively. Verstappen popped in third. Hamilton was fourth.
Verstappen then went 2.7s faster and jumped to the top of the screens. He was, however, over five seconds off the pace of Thursday's running. Tsunoda then went fastest, then Leclerc, as the times kept dropping.
With 16 minutes remaining, Hulkenberg and Gasly left the pits for the first time in the session, and the expected rain had not arrived yet.
Bortoleto, on the other hand had a moment...
The drivers continued to exchange blows with the lap times steadily dropping as the conditions remained dry.
Verstappen then had a moment while on a good lap and missed the corner going through traffic. Alonso had a lockup into Turn 14. Gasly messed up Turn 5. The list goes on...
Verstappen slammed "idiots" who stay on the racing line which meant he had to go onto the wet line...
The session was concluded with practice starts.
Las Vegas GP FP3 Classification
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