Max Verstappen looked to be in fine form ahead of qualifying in Austin, with the Red Bull driver topping the timesheets in the third practice session at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
In a busy session, Verstappen set a time of 1m 35.815s to lead Charles Leclerc – who, along with Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Zhou Guanyu, has an engine-related grid penalty – by 0.320s. Leclerc’s Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three, with the Spaniard finishing 0.446s off Verstappen.
Perez was fourth quickest ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in fifth and the Alpine of Alonso in sixth. George Russell was further back in P7, ahead of the Aston Martin duo of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, in eight and ninth, respectively, as Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
FP3: Verstappen leads Leclerc and Sainz in final Austin practice session
There were no red flags in the session although we did see several drivers run wide as they struggled to contend with the wind in Texas, while Mick Schumacher spent most of FP3 in the pit lane with an ERS issue.
Click on the video player above to relive the action from FP3 at the Circuit of The Americas ahead of qualifying today at 1700 local time.