George Russell pipped Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli with a late lap to lead the final practice session ahead of qualifying at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix. 

Antonelli led the majority of FP3 as he set a 1m07.134s just past the halfway point of the session, a time he couldn’t beat on either of his subsequent runs. 

But Russell did best Antonelli on his final flying lap in the session with a particularly strong final sector that gave him a 1m07.096s. 

That was still marginally slower than Antonelli’s FP2 benchmark from Friday, but was 0.038s quicker than Antonelli’s best Saturday lap. 

Lewis Hamilton was third on a stronger day for Ferrari with its upgraded engine. He was 0.115s off the pace. 

The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were fourth and fifth. Max Verstappen followed them in the upgraded Red Bull, but had to battle annoying radio interference problems throughout the session in his RB22.

He was 0.273s off Antonelli’s benchmark, with Charles Leclerc in seventh, 0.356s off the pace.

Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar struggled to get near Verstappen’s pace and ended up just ahead of the Racing Bulls, almost six tenths slower than Verstappen.

Liam Lawson was the quicker of the Racing Bulls in ninth with Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top 10. 

Pierre Gasly was 11th for Alpine ahead of the Audis led by Nico Hulkenberg. 

Practice 3

1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m07.096s
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.038s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.115s
4 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.248s
5 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.264s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.273s
7 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.356s
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.816s
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.935s
10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.013s
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.097s
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.207s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.215s
14 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.298s
15 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.433s
16 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.611s
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.747s
18 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.896s
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +2.436s
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +2.644s
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +3.325s
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +3.471s