Practice report

F1 Imola GP: Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri ahead of qualifying

Norris and Piastri once again head into qualifying as the favourites for pole at F1's Imola GP

Lando Norris has kept McLaren's clean sheet intact atop the Imola leaderboard in Saturday's third practice session for F1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Norris headed McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri with Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen in third.

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Amid searing track temperatures in Imola few teams were in a rush to head out early.

Lewis Hamilton briefly headed the early running before being demoted by Piastri and then Verstappen. Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar also enjoyed a brief moment in the lead as the track grip ramped up.

By the halfway point most of the medium-tyre running was coming to an end with Verstappen leading the way courtesy of a 1m15.078s.

Teams then switched to qualifying simulations on softs, using Pirelli's new C6 compound.

Initially, Norris was the only driver to improve on Verstappen's medium-shod benchmark with a 1m14.897s, the first lap below the 1m15 barrier this weekend.

The Briton's second push lap had to be abandoned after he understeered off at Tamburello, driving through the gravel trap. Team-mate Piastri clocked a 1m14.997s, exactly one tenth slower.

After initially not improving on his first soft-tyre run, losing time in the second and third sectors, Verstappen re-appeared in the final minutes of the one-hour session but again couldn't string a quicker lap together, ending up 0.181s in arrears.

Aboard the Mercedes, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli took fourth just over half a second behind the McLaren, while team-mate George Russell had a less comfortable time with the ride quality of the Silver Arrow.

Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, while Carlos Sainz continued a promising start to the weekend for Williams in sixth. Hadjar eventually settled for seventh, with Russell, the second Williams of Alex Albon and the remaining Ferrari of Hamilton completing the top 10.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

The session was completed without major incidents, barring an innocuous spin for RB's Liam Lawson in Tamburello.

Yuki Tsunoda was a low-key 17th after complaining of "zero grip" in the Red Bull, while series returnee Franco Colapinto settled for 18th aboard the Alpine.

F1 Imola GP - FP3 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	19	1'14.897		S	235.956
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	19	+0.100 1'14.997	0.100	S	235.641
3	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	17	+0.181 1'15.078	0.081	M	235.387
4	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	15	+0.502 1'15.399	0.321	S	234.385
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.554 1'15.451	0.052	S	234.223
6	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	21	+0.560 1'15.457	0.006	S	234.204
7	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	20	+0.611 1'15.508	0.051	M	234.046
8	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	14	+0.765 1'15.662	0.154	M	233.570
9	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	20	+0.835 1'15.732	0.070	M	233.354
10	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.890 1'15.787	0.055	S	233.185
View full results