McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took top spot in the final practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula One Australian Grand Prix less than a tenth of a second ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen. There was more trouble for Haas rookie Oliver Bearman who crashed for the second day in a row.

The young Briton hit the barriers in the opening practice session and sat out FP2 as his car was repaired but almost as soon as the final hour of practice began the Haas driver was again ruled out. This time, on his first flying lap, he dipped a wheel onto the grass at Turn 11 and slid off into the gravel where he became beached. His car was recovered but he was unable to take any further part in the session.

When the session resumed, Verstappen bolted on a set of Soft compound tyres and jumped to the top of the order with a lap of  1:17.632. Piastri then moved ahead with a lap of 1:17.298 before the Dutchman opened up a sizeable gap by posting a time of 1:16.646.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Mercedes’s George Russell put in a strong lap of 1:16.402. 

Verstappen, pushing hard in the much-improved RB21, then used another new set of softs to reclaim top spot with a time of 1:16.002. 

Piastri, though, found a tiny amount of time and with eight minutes remaining he posted a lap of 1:15.921 to return to top spot. Norris might have gone even quicker had at the end of a rapid lap his progress was disrupted by turbulent air from traffic ahead and he backed out of the attempt. 

Verstappen took backed out of a late flyer as he slid twice late in the lap, leaving Piastri in P1. Russell did manage an improvement however and he nudged he way ahead of Verstappen to take P2. 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took fourth spot ahead of Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Williams continued to impress with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in sixth and seventh respectively. Lewis Hamilton was eighth ahead of Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda and Norris, without a real qualifying sim to his name, completed the top 10 order. 

While Verstappen made a major improvement from Friday to Saturday afternoon, there was no progress for Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson. A technical issue on his first flying lap forced him back to the pits and the diagnosed pneumatic air problem on his engine kept him in the garage until the end of the session. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1  Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.921  16 250.270
2  George Russell Mercedes 1:15.960 0.039 17 250.142
3  Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.002 0.081 18 250.003
4  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.188 0.267 22 249.393
5  Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.206 0.285 20 249.334
6  Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:16.252 0.331 23 249.184
7  Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.258 0.337 21 249.164
8  Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:16.378 0.457 21 248.773
9  Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:16.455 0.534 17 248.522
10  Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.597 0.676 20 248.061
11  Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.707 0.786 18 247.706
12  Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:16.719 0.798 22 247.667
13  Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:16.732 0.811 18 247.625
14  Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.948 1.027 22 246.930
15  Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:16.993 1.072 18 246.786
16  Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:17.146 1.225 15 246.296
17  Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.270 1.349 22 245.901
18  Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:17.373 1.452 18 245.574
19  Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari -  2 
20  Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT -  2