Norris tops unusual FP3 in Imola

Lando Norris topped an unusual final practice session at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after almost half the field failed to find competitive grip on the soft tire for the qualifying simulations.

In a departure from his Friday performances, Norris was one of the few to nail his initial lap on fresh rubber to set the benchmark at 1m14.897s. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was second and just 0.1s off the pace, but the Australian’s fastest time came after his third attempt at a lap.

Piastri's first shot was spoiled when he dipped to wheel son the gravel exiting Acque Minerali, forcing him to abandon the effort. His second lap was almost 0.4s slower than Norris’s after he failed to improve on his medium-tire run in the first two sectors, setting a personal best only in the final split.

The Australian returned to the garage to reset, and his final lap was clean and quick enough to match Norris. It marked him out as one of the few drivers able to extract representative pace from the new C6 tire over multiple laps in warm conditions.

Max Verstappen had the opposite experience on his way to third. His fastest lap was just 0.181s slower than Norris, but it was set on the medium tire after he blew his attempt on softs at Variante Alta, where he skimmed the gravel. His second attempt stint on the same set of rubber offered him no more joy.

Andra Kimi Antonelli rocketed to fourth for Mercedes, but the home favorite was a devastating 0.502s off the pace.

Charles Leclerc was fifth, 0.052s further back, while Carlos Sainz staked Williams’s claim for a Q3 berth with the sixth-best time just 0.004s behind the Ferrari.

Isack Hadjar and George Russell were 0.611s and 0.765s off the pace respectively, but both used the medium compound for their fastest laps. Russell in particular was disappointed by his car’s lack of pace, radioing his team that he was suffering bouncing at some parts of the track and noting that the ride quality had got worse since Friday. The Briton’s attempt at a flying lap on softs was subsequently spoiled by an off at Variante Alta.

Alex Albon was ninth for Williams on mediums ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 10th, the Ferrari driver ending his session after running wide out of the final corner and picking up possible floor damage.

Fernando Alonso was 11th in his upgraded Aston Martin ahead of Oliver Bearman, Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson, who destroyed a set of tires with a big spin through Tamburello.

Pierre Gasly dropped from third in FP2 to 15th in the final practice session despite being one of only six drivers to use two new sets of soft tires. He led Gabriel Bortoleto, Yuki Tsunoda – whose fastest time came on mediums – Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, who completed a clean sweep of 20th places over the three practice sessions.