Free Practice 3: Ferrari double on drying track, Ericsson 3rd

The 60-minute session took place mainly on a soggy Albert Park circuit, the fault of showers which swept through the Victorian capital in the morning.

In these delicate conditions, the drivers first explored the Australian track on Maxi-Wet tires (with blue sidewalls) before gradually switching to Intermediate tires (green sidewalls). As comfortable as a fish in water, Verstappen occupied the top of the ranking for a moment before the drying up of the trajectory led to successive changes in leader: Alonso, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), then Carlos Sainz (Renault) 3 minutes from the checkered flag.

The switch to dry weather envelopes took place at the very end of the session, Hag emerging from the Ferrari garage with the Ultra-Tendres. Still in Intermediate shoes, Verstappen briefly took over the lead but it was impossible to compete with the three drivers who were able to set a time with Pirelli's softest rubber. Behind Vettel, Räikkönen is more than 2 seconds behind. The duettists of the Team are followed by an astonishing Marcus Ericsson on Sauber.

Verstappen and Sainz are the best representatives of the Intermediate drivers. The Top 10 is completed by Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Bottas, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), and Alonso.

At the back of the pack, none of the Force India drivers set a time, with conditions looking dry for the first qualifying session of the season, which will take place at 17:00 p.m. local time (07:00 a.m. in France) and will be followed in live commentary on the site CARhebdo.fr.

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION – END OF FP3

A drying track and some good timing made for a jumbled final practice pic.twitter.com/GHuLvWFCLg

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 24, 2018