Even without the need for headlights as the sun set in Jeddah, Verstappen showed that he was a priori Ferrari’s great rival, especially a Leclerc who seems to have adapted very well to the fast Saudi track, leading the last practice session before qualifying after having dominated FP1 and FP2 on Friday.
Despite the fact that it was an FP3 that started very calmly and with most of the cars in the pits, it became very lively in the last minutes, when almost everyone went out to look for a fast lap on new soft tyres.
There, Max Verstappen had to abort his first fast lap attempt after an error and although he would end up leaving at the last moment, he did not have time for one more lap. Even so, the time he had achieved in the middle of the session earned him second place, just 33 thousandths behind Charles Leclerc (0.033s).
The Monegasque had not managed to beat the champion on his first attempt but finally, and when the checkered flag was already falling, he stopped the clock in a 1:29.735 that allowed him to finish first in the three free practice sessions of the weekend.
However, the two Red Bulls fell within a tenth as Sergio Pérez, setting his best lap some 25 minutes after his team-mate, finished just 0.065 off Verstappen and 0.098 off Leclerc.
Already further away, almost three tenths, was a Carlos Sainz who put the other Ferrari in fourth place despite not improving in that final part. He beat a very fast Bottas with the Alfa Romeo by only 21 thousandths, and by more than a tenth Ocon ‘s Alpine, who slipped into the top 6 in the final moments of FP3.
Gasly , who suffered a breakdown in his AlphaTauri and his participation in qualifying is up in the air, finished seventh, while Magnussen in the Haas, Alonso in the other pink car and Tsunoda in the second AlphaTauri rounded out the top 10.
Although the conditions will be different in qualifying, what we saw in FP3 is that the good lap is not achieved the first time, but rather the tire has to be prepared more so that it reaches the optimum temperature.
F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2022 Free Practice 3 Results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
23 | 1’29.735 | ||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
12 | 1’29.768 | 0.033 | 0.033 |
| 3 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
16 | 1,29,833 | 0.098 | 0.065 |
| 4 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
22 | 1’30.009 | 0.274 | 0.176 |
| 5 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
22 | 1’30.030 | 0.295 | 0.021 |
| 6 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
16 | 1’30.139 | 0.404 | 0.109 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
11 | 1’30.148 | 0.413 | 0.009 |
| 8 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
18 | 1’30.262 | 0.527 | 0.114 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso |
|
17 | 1’30.296 | 0.561 | 0.034 |
| Ten |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
19 19 | 1’30.415 | 0.680 | 0.119 |
| see results | ||||||
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Summary of F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2022 Free Practice 3
Valtteri Bottas was the first to hit the track when the green lights came on, and was soon joined by the Haas, the Aston Martins, the other Alfa Romeo and Hamilton for an installation lap before returning to the pits.
When the first ten minutes were up, the Ferraris set their first times with soft, and on the second lap, Sainz set a 1:31.011 that left him only 41 thousandths ahead of Leclerc.
The red cars were the only ones on the table until Norris joined them. Leclerc improved Sainz’s mark to be first. Most teams took it easy, and 20 minutes into FP3 there were only seven drivers with a time. At that time Hamilton was completing his first timed lap, on softs, but had to abort after skipping turn 18.
His teammate Russell had fewer problems, his lap left him only 9th, 2.5 behind Leclerc. For his part, Checo Pérez was six tenths behind the Ferraris, and saw how Bottas slipped past him, third with the Alfa Romeo.
Alonso’s first lap, 24 minutes into practice, left him eighth, the same tenth as Norris. Pérez improved, and with a record in the second sector, he slipped between Leclerc and Sainz, 0.152 behind the Monegasque.
After doing a tire warm-up lap, Verstappen set the second sector record but failed to overtake either the Ferraris or his teammate, remaining in fourth place three tenths off first place.
The track improved and Gasly, despite having spent several laps on the same tyre, stopped the clock just nine thousandths behind Leclerc, placing second. Alonso also took advantage of it to take the first sector record from the Frenchman, although his complete lap, also with used tires, left him seventh.
Playing the same game as his previous lap, Verstappen took a step forward and posted the best time of the weekend, a 1m29.768s that broke the 1m30s barrier and left Leclerc 0.371s behind. Pérez could not improve when he got a scare and marked an excursion outside the fast turn 4.
Gasly suffered a major problem with the AlphaTauri, when a breakdown left him stranded at the pitlane exit. The driver himself, with the help of a marshal, had to push his car back to the end of the pit lane, where his mechanics were able to assist him. From that moment the team began to work against the clock, not to start again in this FP3, but to get to the classification on time.
Hamilton improved his first two sectors, but not the third and fell one second behind Verstappen. Zhou protested when he met Russell’s Mercedes coming out of the pitlane, and on the second try, he couldn’t improve.
Alonso left for the last time with 11 minutes remaining, and moved up to sixth, half a second behind Verstappen. Pérez achieved a good mark, but could not beat his teammate and stayed 0.065s behind.
In his first attempt in that last session, and after setting a record in the second sector, Verstappen went wide at turn 23 and had to abort. However, the time he had achieved almost half an hour earlier kept him first when his teammate Pérez was 65 thousandths of that mark.
Leclerc beat the best time in the first sector, but he did not have an easy lap finish and could only be third. Sainz, also with a record in sector 1, did not finish in the best way either and had to settle for fourth place, 0.241 behind Verstappen’s record.
There would still be one last attempt for the Ferraris, and Leclerc managed by a sigh to take the first position when the clock was already at 0 and the checkered flag appeared. Shortly before, Ocon had risen to sixth place, while Sainz did not improve and stayed fourth.
