Overview
- George Russell set a 1:23.334 to top final practice by 0.004s from Lando Norris, with Max Verstappen third at +0.124; Fernando Alonso was fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth.
- Lewis Hamilton triggered a red flag with a high-speed Turn 9 crash, reporting something buckled on his Ferrari; he was unhurt as the team faces repairs before qualifying.
- Yuki Tsunoda nearly impeded Norris on track and later collided with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli after an unsafe release in the pit lane, with both incidents referred to the stewards.
- Max Verstappen complained his Red Bull still “jumps,” saying he struggled to keep his feet on the pedals during FP3 running.
- Margins were razor-thin heading into qualifying, with the top 17 covered by less than one second after a red-flagged session that compressed late low-fuel runs.