Norris kicked off the FP3 session with a lone installation lap before heading back to the pits. With a standard race weekend featuring three practice sessions — only one of which is held under the most representative conditions — most drivers opted to stay in the garage during the opening minutes.
Although the Aston Martin cars made early appearances on track, it was Hamilton who set the first timed lap on medium tyres, followed by Hülkenberg, who posted a P2 time on softs. The times were far from representative, nearly two seconds off the fastest laps seen in FP2.
Most of the field only ventured out about 20 minutes into the session, with Mercedes being the last to emerge from the garage. Lawson asked for a floor check after aggressively taking a kerb at Turn 9, pitting immediately for the team to inspect any potential damage.
An interesting radio message came from Alonso, who complained about a Ferrari slowing down in front of him, stating, “Both Ferraris think they are alone on the track.” Meanwhile, Russell wasn’t happy with his lap either, but his issues were due to bouncing, particularly in Turn 5, rather than traffic.
Lawson brought out the first yellow flag of the session after taking too much kerb into Turn 3 and spinning off track. He managed to continue, and the session returned to green quickly.
His teammate Hadjar found himself in a more dangerous situation while preparing a practice start at the end of the pit lane. He accelerated just as Sainz passed by. The Racing Bulls driver apologized over the radio, saying he didn’t see the Williams in his mirrors, but luckily, no contact was made.
Piastri looked set to post the fastest lap with a significant time advantage, but a costly mistake saw him abort the lap, leaving him down in P8. Norris capitalized right after, going P1 with a purple sector 3. The reigning world champion split the two McLarens with an impressive lap on medium tyres.
Another brief yellow flag appeared, with the director taking a moment to find the cause. Eventually, replays showed Norris missing a turn and going through the gravel. He didn’t need to worry too much, as he finished the session in P1, with his teammate just a tenth behind — a time set on seven-lap-old softs, suggesting there is more pace in the McLarens than they are currently showing.
Verstappen rounded out the top three with a lap set on medium tyres, as he couldn’t improve on softs — a concern echoed by Tsunoda, who complained about the grip and overall pace of the Red Bull car.
It was another difficult session for Ferrari, with both drivers running wide and struggling to keep the car within the white lines on home turf. Hamilton even reported floor damage after hitting a kerb particularly hard.
Leclerc finished P5, sandwiched between Antonelli and Sainz. However, the solid effort was tempered by the fact that all three were half a second off the leaders.