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Formula 1 Australian GP

F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Saturday's action from the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the pace during Friday's practice sessions, while things were not all straightforward for Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Meanwhile, there will be plenty of attention on Alex Albon at Williams, after the team elected to give him Logan Sargeant's car for the rest of the weekend following the Anglo-Thai driver's FP1 crash.

Final practice is due to begin at 1:30am GMT (12:30pm local time) followed by qualifying commencing at 5am GMT (4pm local time). 

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But, for the 19 drivers who are due to take part, just over five minutes remain until qualifying begins. This should be fun!
Breaking news

Now, in case you've missed events so far during the early starts of Melbourne, Williams is down to just one car for this weekend after Albon's FP1 shunt destroyed his chassis.

And, in a controversial move, the team opted to order Sargeant aside and allow Albon to use his car instead. Team boss James Vowles acknowledges it will be tough for the American to bounce back from such a public vote of inconfidence: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/vowles-very-difficult-to-rebuild-sargeants-confidence-after-australian-gp-benching/10590337/

This means Q3 could be especially interesting as the soft rubber is mandatory for all the drivers.
Another reason for intrigue is the nature of the Albert Park track. Its unforgiving walls and gravel traps provide a great challenge for the drivers, while Pirelli's "punchy" - in the words of George Russell - tyre choice for this event means the softest red-walled rubber is struggling to maintain performance over a single flying lap.
But, before we get too carried away, let's not forget we've been here before and the Dutchman has somehow delivered when it mattered.
Breaking news
Ferrari believes it has a genuine shot at beating Red Bull here and the reigning champion Verstappen hasn't looked completely comfortable all event so far. In case you missed it (how could you?!), here's a round-up of FP3 earlier: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-leclerc-keeps-ferrari-in-front-in-final-practice/10590370/
Q1 is due to begin in just under 15 minutes' time and, on the evidence of practice so far, it could be game on at the front...
Welcome back to Autosport's live text coverage of the Australian Grand Prix Saturday! For the bleary-eyed European fans among you, this intriguing qualifying session should (we would like to think) be well worth the early start!
Breaking news
And with that, it's time to take a break before qualifying at 5am GMT. Until then, here is the full rundown of the action from FP3. Thanks for joining us! 
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-leclerc-keeps-ferrari-in-front-in-final-practice/10590370/
Looking ahead to qualifying, there is just two-tenths separating those in P12-P18, meaning Q1 is likely to be an intense battle.
Down the order, it's another session to forget for Ricciardo who is 18th of 19 drivers. Only Gasly was slower.
Meanwhile, three-tenths off the pace, Perez is in P7.
Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell is the top five, with 0.172s separating them.
Checkered flag
The chequered flag is out.
Stopwatch
A final blast from Leclerc to go fastest with a 1m17.714s. Verstappen goes fastest in the middle sector but can only go P2, 0.02s off the Ferrari driver.
Bucking that trend are Leclerc and Russell, who go third and fourth. Less than one-tenth separate the top four, which doesn't include a Red Bull.
Unlike you would usually expect to see at this stage, there is not a level of improvement in the times. Medium tyres seem like they could oddly be the best option for qualifying.
On his second flying lap on the current set of softs, Russell goes P3. Were we too quick to proclaim problems for Mercedes?
As we enter the final 10 minutes of the session, it's soft tyres for all. Verstappen struggles on the softs and fails to improve on his earlier time.
And as we say that, Hamilton puts in a 1m16.806s to go second fastest!
"Guys, I always find Lewis at **** points on the track every lap," reports Russell. 

Trouble at Mercedes.
A purple sector one for Piastri and a solid lap overall moves him up to P3, making him the fastest soft tyre runner to this point with a 1m17.087s. 

The time is identical to Leclerc's medium-shod effort.
Quote
Albon reports that his soft tyres are "gone by Turn 9". We'll keep an eye to see if those struggles are experienced by other drivers.
With 20 minutes remaining, it won't be long before we get to the final qualifying simulations.
Throwing caution to the wind, Albon pushes his Williams up to P7, but drops a position to Piastri, who follows him across the line.
It's two-by-two at the front now, with Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston Martin seeing their drivers in pairs and completing the top eight.
An improved effort from Hamilton this time despite a moment at Turn 11. He goes P5, 0.763s off Sainz.
A Ferrari one-two now as Leclerc leapfrogs the Red Bull pair to go P2, two-tenths back on Sainz.
Quote
"Where is all that time man?" 

Hamilton's frustrations continue. However, that could be placated slightly by seeing his future team comfortably ahead at this point in time.
Stopwatch
Further highlighting mediums as the optimum tyre at this moment in time, Sainz goes fastest and is the first man to dip into the 76-second bracket this weekend with a 1m16.791s.
Although, the soft tyres don't appear to be yielding results for anyone at this moment in time, something that is possibly a result of the cooler temperatures.
Hamilton was informed of the margin and that 1.1s was the loss on straights. The astonished reaction paints a worrying picture.
Norris has started his qualifying preparation and falls 1.4s shy of Verstappen on softs.
A 1m18.660s for Hamilton. Given those above them are all on harder tyres, he won't be impressed to find himself over 1.5s back from the benchmark pace.
After a difficult day on Friday, Mercedes has sent both Hamilton and Russell straight out on the soft tyres.
Stopwatch
Verstappen continues to lower the benchmark, setting a 1m17.100s on his eighth lap. Also on his eighth lap, Perez sets his best effort, just 0.05s back.

By: Autosport Staff

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