02:32
Top 10
Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Perez, Piastri, Stroll and Norris.
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-24. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3,…
2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Final Practice - As it happened
A recap of what happened in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
- FP3 is at 1:30am UK time
- How to watch Australian Grand Prix qualifying today: Live stream for free
It's qualifying day at the Australian Grand Prix.
Ferrari were the team to beat in second practice, Charles Leclerc topping the timesheets with a healthy margin over Max Verstappen.
Follow all of the action from Australia here with the Crash.net live blog.
23 Mar 2024
02:53
Time for a break
Join us for qualifying which kicks off at 5pm UK time - in just over two hours' time.
02:31
Leclerc takes to the top
Leclerc tops FP3 with a late lap to pip Verstappen. Just 0.020s between the top two.
02:30
Chequered flag
Sainz currently fastest at the moment on the mediums having failed to improve.
Let's see what Verstappen can do.
02:24
Five minutes to go
Hamilton was on course to go fastest but loses out in the final sector.
02:21
Current top 10
Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Alonso and Albon.
02:19
Encouraging from Hamilton
He moves into second now on the softs, 0.015s off Sainz.
02:16
Norris improves
Only seventh for the McLaren driver, 0.699s down.
02:14
Piastri into third
On the soft tyres, he splits the two Ferraris and two Red Bulls, 0.296s off the pace.
02:12
Just under 20 minutes to go
We still await more runs on the soft tyres.
Piastri has just gone quickest in the opening sector on his C5 tyre.
02:05
Russell moves up the order
He pips teammate Hamilton for fifth-fastest, 0.6s down on Sainz's top time.
02:01
Hamilton on the move
He slots into fifth overall now, 0.7s off Sainz's pace.
01:59
Leclerc into second
Leclerc makes it a Ferrari 1-2 now. He was on course to go fastest but a fairly slow final sector.
Strong start to FP3 from both Ferrari and Red Bull.
01:56
Current top 10
Sainz, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda.
01:51
Strong lap from Sainz
He improves to a 1m16.791s, 0.3s ahead of Sainz.
01:48
Hamilton on the softs
He slots into fifth overall, a whopping 1.5s off Verstappen.
01:47
Sainz improves
Sainz cuts the gap to Verstappen to just four-tenths now. Perez has also set a personal best lap time, within a tenth of the Dutchman.
01:44
15 minutes into the session
Only three times on the board - Verstappen, Perez (0.4s off) and Sainz (0.9s off).
01:42
Verstappen returns to the top
A 1m17.510s for Verstappen puts him 0.4s ahead of Perez now.
Sainz, Piastri and Leclerc are also out there now.
01:41
Red Bulls
The Red Bulls exchange fastest laps as Perez lowers the benchmark to a 1m17.927s, 0.6s ahead of Verstappen.
01:37
Issue for Verstappen?
"My brakes are not working. They're biting"
01:36
Perez sets the pace
Perez sets the early pace on the medium tyre - a 1m19.206s for the Mecican.
Verstappen is also out there on the mediums; Alonso on the hards.
01:32
FP3 is underway!
The final 60 minutes of running is underway at Albert Park
01:26
How to watch the action in Australia
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari with fans. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd…
01:25
Welcome
Hello everyone and welcome to the Crash.net live blog for final practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
The action is about to get underway with FP3 kicking off at 1:30am UK time.