P1racenews AI automatic summary:
F1 Australian GP: Leclerc keeps Ferrari in front in final practice
Just moments before, Max Verstappen edged out Carlos Sainz by 0.057s, with Sainz leading for most of the hour due to his earlier impressive performance on the medium tyres. A key point in FP3 was the rapid degradation of the soft tyres over a single lap, with some drivers struggling to maintain their fast pace in the final sectors. Towards the end of the session, both Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri improved their positions on later soft-tyre runs, challenging the front runners. George Russell made a late surge into the top ranks on his own soft run, threatening the times set by the Ferraris and Red Bulls on medium tyres. Although there were concerns about early braking, Red Bull managed to resolve these issues and Verstappen showcased the value of the soft tyres with a strong lap time after the session ended. Charles Leclerc ultimately topped the leaderboard with a late 1m16.714s lap, keeping the top four within 0.1s of each other. Hamilton overcame early struggles and moved up to fourth, while Fernando Alonso improved to sixth place in the final moments. Piastri, Stroll, and Norris completed the top 10 as McLarens missed out on improving further with the soft tyres in the closing stages of the session.
