Charles Leclerc was the quickest driver in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix as one tenth of a second covered the top four drivers.
The Ferrari driver set the pace for the second consecutive session around the Albert Park circuit, just two-hundredths of a second quicker than Max Verstappen
In cooler conditions than Friday, drivers appeared to struggle to get quick times out of the soft tyre compared to the medium compound until the end of the session. Leclerc went quickest as the chequered flag fell.
Carlos Sainz Jnr was third-fastest, setting his best time on the mediums. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was within a tenth of Leclerc by the end of the session in fourth despite complaining about losing a significant amount of time to his rivals down the straights earlier in the session.
George Russell was fifth-fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso in the lead Aston Martin. Sergio Perez was seventh for Red Bull ahead of Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
The overcast conditions meant that the final hour of practice was cooler than the two on Frida. Crucially, the wind speed was also lower. That appeared to make life easier for drivers than the first day of running as there were far fewer off-track moments during the final hour. Traffic was still a concern, however, with even the Mercedes team mates appearing to get in each others way over the session.
There were no major problems for any of the 19 drivers running, with Logan Sargeant not participating after being withdrawn by his Williams team. Both Red Bull drivers complained that their brakes were not “biting” at the start of the hour, but they appeared satisfied with their braking performance as their runs continued.
After the end of the session, the stewards announced that Sainz would be investigated for allegedly failing to follow the practice start procedure on the grid following the chequered flag.
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2024 Australian Grand Prix third practice result
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Complete practice times
| P. | # | Driver | Team | FP1 time | FP2 time | FP3 time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’18.599 | 1’17.277 | 1’16.714 | 70 | |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’18.582 | 1’17.658 | 1’16.734 | 0.020 | 68 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’18.686 | 1’17.707 | 1’16.791 | 0.077 | 68 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’18.771 | 1’18.834 | 1’16.806 | 0.092 | 63 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’18.597 | 1’17.951 | 1’16.886 | 0.172 | 68 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston… |
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