F1 2023 practice results: FP3 timings and lap counts from the Saudi Arabian GP
Max Verstappen has set the pace in the final practice session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, leading a Red Bull 1-2.
Verstappen put an impressive 1:28.4850 on the soft compound Pirellis with five minutes remaining in the third practice session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez had headed the times for most of the session, before the reigning World Champion went quickest with 15 minutes remaining. Following a cooldown lap, Verstappen then popped in a second flyer to increase his advantage to almost half a second over Perez.
Verstappen’s time had him 0.8 seconds clear of the quickest non-Red Bull, but he managed to increase this to 0.998 at the chequered flag as the Dutch driver went out to put in a 1:28.485 right at the conclusion of the session.
The only blot on Verstappen’s copybook throughout the entire session was a moment where he was on the racing line and impeded a fast approach from Lando Norris – the incident was noted by the stewards, who elected against further action.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the closest challenger to the Red Bulls as he claimed third, just 0.026 clear of teammate Lance Stroll in fourth.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the two McLarens.
Full results from FP3 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
1 Max Verstappen RED BULL 1:28.425 20 Laps
2 Sergio Perez RED BULL +0.613 14 Laps
3 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN +0.998 21 Laps
4 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN +1.024 21 Laps
5 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES +1.083 18 Laps
6 Lando Norris MCLAREN +1.205 16 Laps
7 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN +1.213 18 Laps
8 Pierre Gasly ALPINE +1.216 23 Laps
9 George Russell MERCEDES +1.326 19 Laps
10 Carlos Sainz FERRARI +1.359 16 Laps
11 Charles Leclerc FERRARI +1.412 19 Laps
12 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO +1.432 21 Laps
13 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS +1.448 19 Laps
14 Esteban Ocon ALPINE +1.468 19 Laps
15 Alex Albon WILLIAMS +1.498 18 Laps
16 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS +1.550 18 Laps
17 Kevin Magnussen HAAS +1.646 15 Laps
18 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO +1.832 20 Laps
19 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI +2.312 20 Laps
20 Nyck De Vries ALPHATAURI No time
