Lando Norris emerged as a surprise pacesetter during final practice for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix, in which Max Verstappen struggled, and both Aston Martin drivers crashed.
Norris set a time of 1:19.117s to finish 0.132s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as McLaren displayed encouraging pace for the first time in 2022.
The session took place with only three DRS zones, on safety grounds, after a fourth zone alongside the newly-configured Lakeside Drive was removed overnight.
The final stages, in which several drivers were set to embark on Soft tyre runs, were disrupted by a red flag, meaning several drivers were unable to set more representative times.
World Champion Max Verstappen had an atypically scrappy session as he struggled for consistency from his Red Bull RB18.
Verstappen had a spin through Turn 13 before making errors on two successive Soft tyre push runs towards the end of the session, the first drifting wide at Turn 6, before a snap of oversteer through Turn 1 forced him to abandon both push laps.
He finished the session only seventh-fastest.
Aston Martin had a thoroughly dismal session as both of its drivers crashed.
Sebastian Vettel, who suffered a power unit failure during Friday’s opening session, and missed the second session as a result, went off just five laps into his run.
He went wide through the Turn 9/10 chicane and crashed into the barriers, sustaining sizeable damage to the front-left of his Aston Martin AMR22.
The session was suspended while Vettel’s car was removed.
Team-mate Lance Stroll then brought the session to a premature close when he went wide through Turn 11 with five laps remaining and hit the wall.
It means both AMR22s need extensive repairs in advance of qualifying.
Behind Norris and Leclerc up front, Sergio Perez was third for Red Bull, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercedes had another low-key session, with Lewis Hamilton scraping the barriers at Turn 11 en route to eighth place, while George Russell finished in 11th.
Qualifying for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix is scheduled for 16:00 local time
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