Dark. Dry. Air +17C, highway +19C
After the first training, which lasted less than ten minutes due to a broken drainage system hatch that damaged several cars, and the postponement of the second, which started after all thirty hatches had been sealed with concrete and asphalt and without fans in the stand, everything in the third went strictly according to schedule.
The condition of the track improved slightly; in the braking zones, the new asphalt was covered with a layer of used rubber, but the cars still slid. Pirelli brought the softest tires to the podium – C3, C4 and C5 in Hard, Medium and Soft roles, but the riders used almost no hard tires – which turned out to be too hard on cold asphalt.
Sainz, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Sargent, Bottas, Verstappen and Albon drove off the track after locking the tires under braking, with no consequences for the cars. Tsunoda was given a black and white flag for crossing the white line when entering the pit lane.
In the 51st minute, Albon hit the barrier in turn five, the left rear wheel was disassembled and separated from the car, causing it to stop on the track. Alex stopped too. The session was stopped with red flags and it was decided not to continue.
On the long six kilometer course the results were surprisingly close. George Russell showed the best time, completing a lap in 1:34.093.
Results of the third session
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. D. Russell | Mercedes | 1:34,093 | – | 23 |
| 2. O. Piastri | McLaren | 1:34,491 | +0.398 | 20 |
| 3. L. Sargent | Williams | 1:34,645 | +0.552 | 17 |
| 4. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:34,653 | +0.560 | 14 |
| 5. C. Perez | Red Bull | 1:34,706 | +0.613 | 13 |
| 6. A. Elbon | Williams | 1:34,726 | +0.633 | 14 |
| 7. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:34,788 | +0.695 | 18 |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34,853 | +0.760 | 24 |
| 9. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:34,908 | +0.815 | 18 |
| 10. K. Magnussen | Hare | 1:35,067 | +0.974 | 18 |
| 11. L.Norris | McLaren | 1:35,089 | +0.996 | 17 |
| 12. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 1:35.112 | +1,019 | 17 |
| 13. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 1:35,253 | +1,160 | 20 |
| 14. E.Okon | Alps | 1:35,297 | +1,204 | 15 |
| 15. G.Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:35,881 | +1,788 | 15 |
| 16. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:35,908 | +1,815 | 22 |
| 17. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:35,939 | +1,846 | 21 |
| 18. Yu.Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:36,087 | +1,994 | 15 |
| 19. P. Gasly | Alps | 1:36,485 | +2,392 | 12 |
| 20. D. Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 1:37,778 | +3,685 | 15 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
