Piastri Leads Final Practice as Antonelli Impresses in Melbourne

Oscar Piastri - Photo by Damian Hall

McLaren's Oscar Piastri lit up the timing screens in front of his home crowd, topping the timesheets in FP3 at the 2025 Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver delivered a 1:15.921 to end the final practice session fastest of all, edging out George Russell by just 0.039s in what was the most representative session so far this weekend.

Mercedes looked sharp with Russell narrowly missing out on the top spot, while rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressed in his first F1 qualifying weekend by securing fifth place — a strong statement from the young Italian as he steadily finds his feet at the top level.

World Champion Max Verstappen slotted into third for Red Bull, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in fourth. However, Leclerc continued to battle with oversteer issues in his Ferrari and admitted over team radio that the car still wasn’t quite behaving the way he wanted.

Antonelli’s P5 finish drew plenty of attention — a strong and composed session from the rookie, showing maturity and pace in equal measure. His performance will no doubt boost confidence in the Mercedes garage ahead of qualifying.

Carlos Sainz led the charge for Williams in sixth, just ahead of teammate Alexander Albon, with Sir Lewis Hamilton finishing eighth. Though the seven-time World Champion remains visibly in the process of adapting to life at Ferrari, there were glimpses of progress. Despite not featuring at the sharp end, Hamilton’s feedback suggests strides are being made in the right direction.

Racing Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and McLaren's Lando Norris rounded out the top ten, with McLaren drawing attention again after analyst Ruth Buscombe-Divey pointed out they appeared to be harvesting more energy than usual on their laps — a sign they could be keeping something in reserve ahead of qualifying.

There was early disappointment at the start of the session for Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who went off at Turn 11 on his first push lap — marking a third consecutive setback for the rookie. He crashed during FP1, and in FP2 was unable to start the session due to incomplete repairs. With no useful running data to carry into qualifying, the team’s struggles look set to continue into the afternoon session.

As the sun climbs higher over Melbourne, all teams will now turn their focus to final tweaks and setup changes ahead of qualifying later this afternoon — the first real glimpse of where each team truly stands in 2025.

Full Classification – FP3:

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren Mercedes) – 1:15.921

2. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.039

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT) +0.081

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.267

5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.285

6. Carlos Sainz (Williams Mercedes) +0.331

7. Alexander Albon (Williams Mercedes) +0.337

8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.457

9. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls Honda RBPT) +0.534

10. Lando Norris (McLaren Mercedes) +0.676

11. Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber Ferrari) +0.786

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine Renault) +0.798

13. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls Honda RBPT) +0.811

14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes) +1.027

15. Jack Doohan (Alpine Renault) +1.072

16. Nico Hülkenberg (Kick Sauber Ferrari) +1.225

17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes) +1.349

18. Esteban Ocon (Haas Ferrari) +1.452

19. Oliver Bearman (Haas Ferrari) – No Time

20. Liam Lawson (Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT) – No Time

Piastri Leads Final Practice as Antonelli Impresses in Melbourne by Damian Hall