Lando Norris narrowly led a one-two for McLaren in the final practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the team set a pace the competition could not get near.
Oscar Piastri was just two hundredths of a second slower than his team mate, following a near-miss with the wall at turn four on one lap. But no one else got within six tenths of a second of the McLaren drivers.
The track temperature fell to 45C during the late afternoon session and is likely to cool further before qualifying takes place at nightfall. McLaren’s rivals will be hoping lower temperatures allow them to close the gap in the qualifying session later today.
George Russell and Max Verstappen improved their times late in the session. However that left the Mercedes driver six tenths of a second off the pace and the reigning world champion a further two tenths back.
Charles Leclerc was the quickest of the Ferrari drivers in fifth place, less than four hundredths of a second behind Verstappen. But he was certain he couldn’t extract any more pace from the car, telling the team he was sliding on all four tyres.
His team mate endured another tough session and ended up outside the top 10. Lewis Hamilton seemed to have particular difficulty with the first corner and was dismayed to be told the scale of his deficit at various points on the track. He was four tenths of a second slower than Leclerc, which translated to 12th place.
The pair were separated by the Williams pair, Alexander Albon ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr, then Pierre Gasly. Yuki Tsunoda and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, both well off their team mates, were next, Isack Hadjar took 11th for Racing Bulls after being stuck in his garage with a rear wing problem earlier on.
Both Haas and Sauber cars ended the session in the bottom five, though all four were quicker than Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin.
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Grand Prix third practice result
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