Australia – Free Practice 3: The Lando Norris surprise

The second day of the Australian Grand Prix began this Friday with the third Free Practice session. A very difficult session for the world champions, since Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) both made mistakes in the first half hour of driving. The Briton fared better than the German, since the latter lost control at the exit of turn 10 and damaged his Aston Martin in the wall. The four-time world champion could not restart and finished for the second time this weekend on a scooter, this time within the rules. Of the three hours of testing planned, Sebastian Vettel therefore only covered 45 minutes. A complicated return for a driver who has already missed the first two Grands Prix of the season.

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Sebastian Vettel's exit from the track triggered a new red flag. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) then had the best time in 1:20.119. A lap performed on soft tires. The session resumed 28 minutes from time and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) found himself in the grass at the penultimate turn of the circuit before leaving again. In great form, Alonso improved his own mark to 1:19.606. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) finally got the better of the double world champion by completing a lap in 1:19.720, but the latter regained his advantage in 1:19.660 with a record in the last sector.

The battle continued between the two men, with the Mexican once again climbing to the top of the standings in 1:19.458. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) decided to join the fight by improving the best time with a lap in 1:19.419. THE McLaren offered themselves a clear revival of form ten minutes from time since Lando Norris posted a surprising 1:19.117 to climb to the top of the timesheet. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo He was in fifth place. The Briton finished the session in the lead as it ended under a red flag five minutes from the scheduled end on a new track exit, that of Lance stroll (Aston Martin).

Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez were on the podium in this session. Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Yuki tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) completed the top 10.

Meet at 8 a.m. French time for the qualifying session.

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