Russell rules final free practice after Antonelli crash

George Russell showed foreboding pace to top final practice at the Australian Grand Prix after the session was shortened following a big crash for teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli was commencing a flying lap on new soft tires when he dipped a wheel on the astroturf just beyond the exit curb of Turn 1. His Mercedes snapped from his control and smacked hard into the barrier at exit before rebounding across the road into the opposite wall. The left side of his car was destroyed, as were his front and rear wings.

The medical car was deployed, and Antonelli emerged unhurt, but the considerable rebuild required for this brand-new car will put his qualifying participation in doubt. It’s a significant blow for the Italian, who had outpaced Russell on Friday and was ahead again at the time of his crash.

The session resumed with four minutes remaining, leading to a rush for the pit lane exit as most of the rest of the field attempted to complete a qualifying simulation on fresh soft rubber.

Despite using a set of tires that had completed around a third of a fast lap before the red flag, Russell laid down a mighty marker with a best time of 1m19.053s, some 0.7s quicker than Friday’s benchmark. It put him 0.616s clear of the field by the end of the session, Mercedes seemingly revealing its hand just hours before the first qualifying session of the year.

Lewis Hamilton was second quickest, pipping Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc to the place after the Monegasque failed to improve following the red flag. Oscar Piastri, having topped Friday practice in his McLaren, was 1.034s off the pace despite improving with his final effort. Isack Hadjar outpaced Red Bull Racing partner Max Verstappen for fifth and sixth ahead of the crashed-out Mercedes in seventh.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris, continuing to look out of sorts, was 1.39s off the pace in eighth ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth and Haas driver Oliver Bearman in 10th. Racing Bulls teammates Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson were 11th and 12th ahead of Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were 15th and 16th ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon.

Aston Martin completed 20 laps with Fernando Alonso, though the Honda-powered machine was 3.667s off the pace in 18th.

Cadillac duo Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were 4.5s and 5.3s off the pace respectively.

Carlos Sainz’s Williams stopped on track after just one lap and without a time. The Spaniard attempted to return to his garage, but his car stopped at the entry of the pit lane, necessitating a red flag to clear it.

Lance Stroll failed to take part in the session due to a power unit problem, with the team suspecting an issue with the internal combustion engine.

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