Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-24. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne,
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.

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.

02:32
Top 10

Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Perez, Piastri, Stroll and Norris.

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 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park,
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.

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