Red Bull Ring GP3: Nissan protege Mardenborough leads for Carlin

The Nissan GT Academy protege pipped Carlin team-mate Antonio Fuoco, who will make his Formula 1 test debut for Ferrari next week, to first place by just 73 thousandths of a second.

The fastest times were, as expected, set in the final stages of the session, with Campos Racing driver Alex Palou knocking Luca Ghiotto off top spot in the closing minutes.

But Ghiotto, who had set the pace in the first half of the session, reclaimed the position before himself being relegated by Fuoco.

Mardenborough then banged in his lap a few moments later to take first place, with points leader Esteban Ocon slotting into third overall ahead of Ghiotto and Matheo Tuscher.

Palou hung on to sixth place, just 0.192s off the pace in a closely-fought session, with Mitch Gilbert and Emil Bernstorff completing the top eight.

Seb Morris and Pal Varhaug rounded out the top 10, while Marvin Kirchhofer, who had been in the thick of the fight for top spot early on, was down in 14th place.

Just as had been the case in the F1 and GP2 sessions, there were a number of off-track moments during practice, particularly at the exit of Turn 8 with numerous drivers paying visits to the run-off area.

PRACTICE TIMES: