By Mark Karp
Max Verstappen set the fastest time of the weekend during the Practice 3 session, clocking in at 1m17.565s and narrowly outpacing Fernando Alonso. Despite some dissatisfaction with his Red Bull-Honda’s braking, Verstappen managed to regain the top spot on the time sheets with a strong performance near the end of the session.
Sérgio Pérez, Verstappen’s teammate, faced a challenging session with a late start and several off-track incidents. Ultimately, he finished in sixth place, over half a second behind. Fernando Alonso trailed Verstappen by just 0.162s, showcasing the competitiveness of the Aston Martin-Mercedes team.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon secured third place, while Pierre Gasly finished in fifth. Ferrari and Mercedes focused more on race pace, with Carlos Sainz in seventh place and Charles Leclerc in thirteenth for Ferrari. George Russell from Mercedes secured fourth place, with Lewis Hamilton ending in eighth.
Zhou Guanyu gave Alfa Romeo a boost by barely making it into the top ten, but a subsequent spin affected his tire performance. His teammate Valtteri Bottas struggled with a different setup and finished in fifteenth place. AlphaTauri had a disappointing session, with Yuki Tsunoda in sixteenth place and Nyck de Vries in nineteenth, further hindered by broken bodywork flying off his car.
