Australian Grand Prix FP3 results with George Russell fastest as Kimi Antonelli suffers huge crash

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George Russell topped the timings for the final Australian Grand Prix practice session as Kimi Antonelli now faces an anxious wait to see if his Mercedes will be ready in time for qualifying.

The start of the session was delayed due to significant barrier damage sustained during the Formula 3 sprint race. However, the delay gave teams valuable time in their garages after the FIA reversed its decision to remove the straight mode between Turns 8 and 9 following pushback from the teams.

Aston Martin endured further setbacks for a second consecutive day of running, after the team discovered power unit issues on Lance Stroll’s AMR26. While Fernando Alonso was quick to head out on track for the final practice session, his teammate was unable to make it out of the garage with a suspected internal combustion engine issue.

Carlos Sainz was the first driver to encounter early teething issues, with his Williams coming to a stop at the entry to the pit lane. The problem appeared similar to the reliability issue suffered by his teammate Alex Albon, whose FW48 came to a halt on the straight between Turns 11 and 12 during FP1.

After a few minutes under a Virtual Safety Car, the session was red-flagged to allow marshals to remove the stricken car from the track safely. Teams lost valuable track time, which could punish several drivers who were yet to make their way onto the circuit.

Unsurprisingly, most drivers opted for soft tyre fast runs following the red flag period, with the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time at the halfway mark of practice, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Despite impressive soft-tyre runs from Piastri and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, their respective teammates struggled to match the pace, with Lando Norris down in 11th and George Russell in 13th. It appeared that Russell was running older soft tyres with a higher fuel load, which could help explain the lack of pace.

Williams’ day almost went from bad to worse at the 35-minute mark, when Albon pulled over to the side of the track after Turn 4. It appeared the Thai-British driver had suffered a similar power unit issue to Sainz, but he was able to restart the car and continue running.

With just 10 minutes remaining, Kimi Antonelli suffered a huge crash at Turn 2, destroying the right side of his car. Replays showed the Italian clipped too much of the kerb, which sent him into the tight left-hand wall before bouncing back across the track.

Despite the medical car being deployed, Antonelli was quickly back in the garage with his team, who ensured he was okay before beginning to check the data. However, the significant damage means Mercedes face a major rebuild if they hope to get the car ready for qualifying later today.

It seemed unlikely that the session would resume, but the marshals worked quickly to clear the track, allowing the drivers to return for four final minutes of running before qualifying.

Russell ultimately topped the timings over half a second faster than Leclerc’s Ferrari, with Hamilton rounding out the top three.