The final minutes of testing at the 2022 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix were busier than usual, as part of the grid was shuffled into the top positions of the standings during the third free practice session.
After an hour to lap, Lando Norris surprised everyone by finishing in the lead on the revamped Albert Park track thanks to his time set on the soft tyre, a 1:19.117, which was just over a tenth quicker than the time set by Charles Leclerc with the Ferrari.
Behind the Briton and the Monegasque finished the last poleman of the Gran Circo, Sergio Pérez, who with his Red Bull stayed 0.148 seconds behind the leader. Another of the surprises of the day was Fernando Alonso, who with the Alpine A522 was commanding the times for much of the session, and who finished in fourth place, one tenth and a half behind the young McLaren driver.
Carlos Sainz was fifth with the other Ferrari, confirming the good form of the Italians in the 2022 Formula 1 season, while Daniel Ricciardo was able to set the best sixth time, although half a second behind his teammate.
On the other hand, the current world champion, Max Verstappen, suffered enough to be able to be seventh in the third free practice session, accusing understeer problems with the medium and soft tires.
Eighth place was taken by Lewis Hamilton, who is still struggling with the Mercedes, while Valtteri Bottas managed to finish ninth, and Yuki Tsunoda closed the top ten in the AlphaTauri.
Results of the free practice 3 of the Australian GP 2022 of F1
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lando Norris |
12 | 1’19.117 | ||
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
15 | 1’19.249 | 0.132 | 0.132 |
| 3 |  Sergio Perez |
17 | 1’19,265 | 0.148 | 0.016 |
| 4 |  Fernando Alonso |
fifteen | 1’19,275 | 0.158 | 0.010 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
17 | 1’19,419 | 0.302 | 0.144 |
| 6 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
14 | 1’19,693 | 0.576 | 0.274 |
| 7 |  Max Verstappen |
16 | 1’19.809 | 0.692 | 0.116 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton |
13 | 1’19.896 | 0.779 | 0.087 |
| 9 |  Valtteri Bottas |
17 | 1’20.008 | 0.891 | 0.112 |
| Ten |  Yuki Tsunoda |
12 | 1’20.071 | 0.954 | 0.063 |
| see results | |||||
Summary: this was the free practice 3 of the Australian GP 2022 Formula 1
The third free practice session of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix began with the news that the FIA had made the decision to remove one of the DRS zones, so the revamped Albert Park layout would retain three sections to activate the moving wing.
Knowing this change, Guanyu Zhou was the first to hit the asphalt on Saturday in Melbourne, while the rest took it easy. Only Max Verstappen took to the track among those who are considered favorites, but it was Lando Norris in his McLaren who set the first fastest time with a 1:21.24 7.
The defending world champion did not take long to beat the Briton, and his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez, came close to almost breaking the 1:21 barrier. A quarter of an hour after the start of the session, the Ferraris were also on the track, with only the AlphaTauri, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen remaining in the garage.
Quickly, Leclerc took the lead on the soft, but Pérez improved the time, while Fernando Alonso made his fastest lap attempt. The man from Oviedo surprised the paddock by taking the lead with a time of 1:20.119 on soft tires, beating the record set by his compatriot, Carlos Sainz.
Lewis Hamilton was struggling a lot, even going off the track in the W13, hitting the wall after taking the gravel run-off, though he was able to maintain control. Failing to return to the pits intact was Sebastian Vettel, who saw his weekend turn even darker when he crashed his AMR22 into the turn 11 exit guards, causing a red flag.
After the work to clean Albert Park, 29 minutes from the end , the session restarted, with a huge traffic jam in the pitlane, as everyone wanted to get out on the track to finalize the details for qualifying.
Max Verstappen was under investigation for overtaking in the pitlane, although without major consequences, but the Dutchman got a big scare when he spun on the penultimate lap in his fast lap tests with the medium.
With less than 15 minutes to go, everyone started to improve in Australia, but the surprise came from Alpine, with Alonso maintaining the lead with a 1:19.906 set on the softest compound in the 18-inch Pirelli range, only 1 thousandth faster than Charles Leclerc ‘s Ferrari.
The natural order of the grid began to establish itself, with Sainz in first place, followed by Pérez and Alonso, who slipped into the fight between those from Maranello and those from Milton Keynes, while the Mercedes ascended to sixth and seventh place with Hamilton ahead of Russell.
The McLarens did not want to be outdone, and Lando Norris took first place with a 1:19.117 , three tenths ahead of Sainz , as did Ricciardo , who moved up to fifth, behind Alonso ‘s Alpine.
Max Verstappen was the last to put on the soft tyre, but pulled into the pitlane as he was about to start his attempt. Most likely he aborted the turn after going too far into one of the corners, reporting on the radio that he had some understeer.
The session ended early due to Lance Stroll ‘s accident with the Aston Martin, which caused another red flag to come out with less than 5 minutes to go, leaving no room for maneuver for the race management to clean up the track .
