The final hour of practice has arrived. Who will top the practice times for the last time in 2025? The last hour will prove crucial, as it is the last time teams can test their setup before qualifying. A very important session in the lead-up to the championship showdown.
The lights went green on the session with the Aston Martins taking to the track first. However, there was not much action early on.
49 minutes remaining, Championship leader Norris, took to the track. Closely following behind him was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The first lap time was set by Gasly, a 1:25.984. A few moments later, Norris set a new fastest time of 1:24.728 just about a second and a half slower than his time in FP2 on Friday.
20 minutes into the session more drivers join the on-track action. Championship contender, Piastri sets a time six tenths slower than his teammate.
Near Miss With Tsunoda
36 minutes remaining, Norris came up fast behind Tsunoda in the final sector. Taking to the run-off area, Norris avoided hitting the Red Bull. Tsunoda was investigated by the stewards shortly after.
34 minutes to go Max Verstappen set the fastest lap time of the session so far.
Red flag
A big crash for Hamilton as he lost control of his car at turn 9. He got out of the car unharmed. Hamilton states on the team radio, “Something buckled at the front and snapped the rear“. Moments before this, he had briefly gone fastest.
Session Resumes
17 minutes left of the session, and all cars piled onto the track, ready to make some final adjustments before qualifying. On his first flying lap since the red flag, Verstappen sets his next fastest lap, a time of 1:24.116.
Piastri picked up the pace with 11 minutes to go and went purple in all 3 sectors, finishing half a second faster than Verstappen. Norris went even faster and put 0.255s over Piastri’s quickest time with 9 minutes remaining.
Pit lane Drama
Into the final 10 minutes, the Red Bull of Tsunoda and the Mercedes of Antonelli collided in the pit lane. Due to an unsafe release from Mercedes, Antonelli’s front wing was damaged, and so was the sidepod of Tsunoda’s car. This resulted in Mercedes being under investigation.
With 6 minutes remaining, Bearman pushed his Haas into third behind the McLarens. Seeming to be a strong track for the rookie, he was just 2 tenths behind Norris.
In the final 3 minutes, Russell sets the fastest time of the session, 1:23.334, only 0.004s ahead of Norris. 1 minute remaining, the McLarens made no improvement, solidifying Russell’s place at the top of the times.
Chequered Flag
Russell finished first, followed by Norris and then Verstappen. The rest of the leader board are as follows: