Overview
- Franco Colapinto will run Free Practice 3 and then take part in qualifying on Saturday with live coverage available on Fox Sports and Disney+ Premium.
- Colapinto ended Friday practice in 13th and 15th place as Alpine failed to match the pace of Mercedes, whose Kimi Antonelli led the day.
- Colapinto described the A526 as 'very unpredictable,' saying the car felt very hard over kerbs and lost rear downforce which hurt balance and lap consistency.
- FP3 was briefly stopped by a red flag after Lewis Hamilton suffered a light impact with the wall and exited his car, interrupting final set-up runs.
- Madring is a 5.416 km, 22-turn semi-urban circuit with limited overtaking, so Saturday's single-lap performance will shape race strategy and Alpine's prospects for the weekend.