Australia - EL3: Verstappen by a short head in front of Alonso

Max Verstappen dominated free practice 3 of the Australian Grand Prix this Saturday in Melbourne. The Batavian beat Fernando Alonso in great form, under increasingly threatening skies.

Published on 01/04/2023 à 04:45

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Australia – EL3: Verstappen by a short head in front of Alonso

Max Verstappen, under a gray-black sky. © DPPI

Fastest in Free Practice 1 Friday noon, Max Verstappen returned to the top of the timesheet this Saturday after leaving Free Practice 2 to Fernando Alonso. The Dutchman was just a short head ahead of his Spanish friend (+0″162) and Esteban Ocon (+0″373). THE Alpine seem to be in good shape since Pierre Gasly is also in the top 5 at 529 thousandths of Max Verstappen's best time, behind George Russell, first driver Mercedes.

Very early in the session, however, these are Charles Leclerc first then Carlos Sainz then who monopolized the outposts first. The two pilots Ferrari, only separated by Fernando Alonso at the top of the timesheet for the majority of the session, took advantage of the disparity in the programs on track to maintain the lead almost the entire session.

Max Verstappen comes out of the woods at the end of the session

Weaned from driving in the dry in Free Practice 2 on Friday afternoon due to the rain which fell on Albert Park, the drivers therefore took advantage of part of FP3 to test their racing pace and try to improve. know more about the degradation, even if the green nature of the Melbourne tarmac has somewhat muddied the waters for the teams.

The ranking was more or less frozen until twenty minutes before the end of the session. The Ferraris, at the top of the timesheet, focused on race pace at the end of the session, when the other leading cars began to really tickle the clock. It was at this precise moment that Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, both Alpine and George Russell set their best times, just before the rain appeared five minutes from time.

Sergio Pérez, session to forget

Note the big difficult session for Sergio Pérez. First, the Mexican had to wait more than twenty-five minutes to hit the track, while his mechanics were busy under his engine hood. During his first attempt, Checo was blocked as in EL1 by Nico Hulkenberg, quite dangerously. When he started again, the number 11 driver twice blocked his right front rubber at turn 1 to the point of going for a spin in the gravel.

Sergio Pérez had a difficult session. © DPPI

And when he didn't make a mistake at T1, it was in the penultimate corner that he went wide at the end of the session... “I can’t believe my eyes, this session…” lamented a Pérez who complained of a problem with the balance from turn to turn. To complete it all, Sergio let himself be surprised by drops of rain appearing and which took him into the gravel again at the very end of the session at T1. Finally, when he tried to rejoin the track at the very end to attempt a simulated start, the lights turned red and his mechanics had to go look for him at the end of the pit lane. A session to definitely forget for him, finished in 6th position.