George Russell topped FP3 for the final session of the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix weekend, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton closing out the top three.
It had been a strong start to the Austrian GP weekend for Kimi Anotnelli, ending FP1 and FP2 in first place. Antonelli suffered his first DNF of the season in Barcelona, struggling with a mechanical issue during the race.
Sergio Perez’s Cadillac was the first car to exit the pit lane, with the team wanting to make the most of track time. Perez set a benchmark time of 1:10.944s on the medium tyres as more drivers began to emerge from the pitlane with 47 minutes left.
Franco Colapinto put on the soft tyres, getting ahead of Perez as he crossed the line. His time was 1:09.829s, but it was quickly surpassed by Nico Hulkenberg and Isack Hadjar.
Hadjar’s fastest time was set on hard tyres, with an impressive gap of 1:09.230s. The Red Bull arrived in Austria with a significant upgrade package. Hoping to take a step forward in the standings.
More of the field started to get on track, with just Max Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri still in the garage with 40 minutes remaining in the session.
Bottas took a run over the kerbs and onto the gravel in Turn 9. At the same time, Lando Norris lost one of his mirrors and called on the radio for a replacement. The reigning champion posted the fastest lap before the mirror issue, at 1:07.832s.
Antonelli shoots to the top
However, Kimi Antonelli was on his first push lap of the session. The current championship leader is managing three purple sectors and has a comfortable 0.3-second gap to Norris in second.
Antonelli’s teammate, George Russell, slipped in behind his teammate, but it was short-lived as Charles Leclerc crossed the line to go just 0.018s faster than Russell.
Russell went again, putting himself close behind Antonelli. The Mercedes driver is just 0.017s behind his teammate. Verstappen split the two Ferraris in fifth, losing time on the straights in comparison to the other teams.
Once again, Antonelli was on a flying lap, with two purple sectors and a personal best final sector. The Italian driver was not only the fastest driver on track by 0.4s but was navigating the Red Bull Ring with ease.
Leclerc was sitting third fastest. He dove into the pits as he finished his third lap in a row on the same tyres.
The field came into the pits for a mid-session tyre change.
With ten minutes left in the session, Antonelli still sat out front of the grid with Lewis Hamilton and Russell marking the top three.
Leclerc was down in seventh, struggling to find the pace on soft tyres that were six laps old. With just three minutes left in the session, he was seventh. 0.4s separated him from Antonelli.
However, in the final two minutes, Russell took the top spot from his teammate. With a time of 1:07.096s, putting him 0.038s out front.
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