McLaren Dominance Continues in Austrian GP Final Practice

Lando Norris once again finished ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri during the third and final practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, showcasing the team`s strong performance heading into qualifying.

Norris improved upon his own best time from Friday`s second practice, setting the pace with a lap of 1:04.324, 0.118 seconds faster than Piastri.

After missing the first practice on Friday due to McLaren`s rookie driver requirement, Norris delivered a strong performance, seemingly putting behind him the incident in Canada where he collided with Piastri, leading to his retirement and increasing the points gap between them to 22.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull finished third, maintaining the top-three order from the previous session. However, his deficit of two-tenths to Norris, coupled with handling issues that resulted in a late spin, suggested that the fight for pole position might primarily be between the two McLaren drivers.

Ferrari showed improvement after a challenging Friday, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton securing fourth and fifth positions, respectively. The team appears to be benefiting from the performance of their fully upgraded car floor.

Following his pole position and victory in Canada, George Russell of Mercedes finished sixth, nearly seven-tenths adrift of Norris, just ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli. Russell`s pace suggests a repeat of his Montreal success may be challenging.

Despite Norris`s impressive speed, an error during his initial attempt on a qualifying simulation run with his final set of soft tires highlighted the potential challenges he faces in perfectly executing a lap in qualifying.

Several times this season, Norris has demonstrated pace equal to or greater than Piastri`s heading into qualifying, only to make mistakes that resulted in him starting further down the grid than the car`s performance suggested was possible.

Piastri, usually consistent, also showed a moment of vulnerability, running wide into the gravel mid-session. This caused floor damage that required repairs, temporarily taking him off track, reportedly fixed with a glue gun.

While Verstappen`s raw pace didn`t quite match the McLarens in practice, the reigning world champion is known for delivering his best performance when it counts, suggesting qualifying will still be a compelling session.

Further down the order, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber maintained their strong weekend form, both finishing in the top 10 and showing promising pace that could see them contend for a place in Q3.

Austrian GP Practice Three Timesheet