Formula 1 | Australia, EL3: Norris in the lead, two accidents for Aston Martin F1

The third and final free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix took place in Melbourne, at the Albert Park circuit. The drivers and teams were able to prepare for qualifying, which will take place at 8 a.m. French time, and the race tomorrow.

The FIA ​​said the removal of the fourth DRS zone, which had been added on the brand new fast section along the lake in Albert Park. The configuration of the activation zones therefore returns to that which it was previously.

Lando Norris set a first benchmark in 1’21″247 with soft tyres. He was quickly beaten by Max Verstappen, who set a time of 1’21″178 on medium tyres. The Dutchman was quickly beaten by his teammate at Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, in 1’21 “024 in medium.

Charles Leclerc placed his Ferrari at the top of the hierarchy, thanks to a time of 1’20″689 on soft rubber. The Scuderia were the most impressive team yesterday, but Red Bull seemed to be back at the top level this Saturday morning.

George Russell took only fifth fastest time on soft tyres, while Pérez regained control in 1’20″436. Valtteri Bottas then positioned himself ahead of Leclerc on soft tyres, in 1’20″517.

Carlos Sainz then took the best time in 1’20″390, and Daniel Ricciardo seemed to understand his McLaren better by failing nine thousandths behind the Spaniard. Fernando Alonso got everyone to agree and placed at the top of the timesheet in 1’20″119.

Confirming the difficulty of keeping his Mercedes W13 on track, Lewis Hamilton went through the gravel traps, touching the tire barrier very slightly. Shortly after, Sebastian Vettel lost control of his Aston Martin on the exit of turn 10 and crashed into the TecPro barrier.

The front wing and the left front half-axle of the German’s AMR22 were destroyed and Vettel, who did not drive in EL2 after his engine failure in EL1, saw his free practice end after around twenty laps traveled in all and for all. The red flag was raised.

After more than ten minutes of interruption, the session resumed with 29 minutes on the clock. Many drivers were waiting outside the pits when the light turned green.

Bottas set the fourth fastest time but missed his last sector, having beaten the first two. Norris took third place, but it was above all Alonso who improved his best time in 1’19 “906, while Leclerc had returned to a thousandth of a second behind the Spanish driver.

Verstappen seemed wary of his spin, explaining that he was unable to “feel the balance” of the RB18 for the moment. Pérez put the other Red Bull at the top of the hierarchy in 1’19″720.

But Alonso didn’t give up and immediately regained control in 1’19.660. Russell improved his time after a small off-track on the previous lap, but the Mercedes F1 driver was far from the best in 11th place.

Leclerc took second place 43 thousandths behind Alonso, and Pérez took the best time in 1’19.458. The track was improving, and Verstappen moved into fourth place in 1’19.809 , the only one with medium tires.

Hamilton took eighth place with the absolute best time in the first sector. The Mercedes W13 seemed to suffer in the fast sections, still plagued by hard-to-control porpoising.

Russell finally managed a smooth lap and positioned himself fifth, while Sainz took the lead in 1’19″419. Pierre Gasly, discreet since the start of the weekend, remained 13th just behind Esteban Ocon.

Ten minutes from the end of the session, the McLaren drivers progressed in the hierarchy. Ricciardo took fourth fastest, before Norris clocked an impressive 1m19.117s on a changing track. The Woking team seemed to be getting better with their MCL36.

Verstappen finally put on the soft tires but aborted his first fast lap, and Alonso progressed in the hierarchy by moving up to second place, 0″158 from Norris’ best time. This end of EL3 was puzzling as to the forces present at this Australian GP.

Verstappen aborted his second fast lap on softs at the first corner, after an error caused by oversteer. For his part, Sainz made a mistake at turn 10 of the Albert Park track.

The session took a catastrophic turn for Aston Martin F1 with an accident for Lance Stroll, who was about to hit the wall and also tore off the right front suspension of his AMR22.

Norris therefore finished these EL3 in the lead ahead of Leclerc, who improved five minutes from the end of the session. Pérez is third ahead of Alonso, Sainz, Ricciardo and Verstappen, who therefore did not do a fast lap on soft tyres.

Hamilton is eighth ahead of Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Russell. Gasly and Ocon follow ahead of Mick Schumacher and Guanyu Zhou. Alex Albon is 16th ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi, with 18th less than two seconds behind Norris. Stroll is 19th ahead of Vettel, a terrible situation for Aston Martin.