Lando Norris set a formidable tempo forward of qualifying on the head of a dominant McLaren one-two within the last follow session on the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Zandvoort circuit began inexperienced after in a single day storms, however the observe gripped up quickly in good sunshine and as extra rubber was laid down.
Norris led after the primary laps on softs, although a second try on used rubber bought teammate Oscar Piastri forward by simply over 0.1s. However the Briton put himself properly past attain along with his sole push lap on his second set of recent softs.
Setting purple instances in all three sectors, Norris rocketed to a finest time of 1m08.972s. It was quicker than his pole place time from 2024 and solely 0.087s slower than the observe file, held by Max Verstappen and set in 2021.
Piastri’s reply put him 0.242s off his teammate’s benchmark with a lap that was a bit scruffy within the first sector however in any other case absent any apparent mistake. A second lap on softs yielded the Australian no general good points however did see him pinch the purple last sector.
Not like Friday, there was no different driver in the identical league as McLaren to separate Piastri from Norris. George Russell was closest within the order, however the Mercedes driver was a foreboding 0.886s off the tempo.
Russell’s session might but worsen, with the Briton set to see the stewards after the session over an incident with Fernando Alonso at pit entry late within the hour.
Alonso, finishing a flying lap, discovered a slow-moving Russell on the racing line and tried to go him to the correct. Russell, nevertheless, appeared to determine late to enter pit lane and all of the sudden veered to the correct. Alonso was pressured to pit to keep away from a collision, whereas Russell jinked again onto the observe when he realized what he’d completed.
The Spaniard, who was a formidable second on the finish of Friday, ended FP3 in tenth and 1.26s off the tempo.
Carlos Sainz was a powerful fourth, the Williams driver lapping 0.841s off the tempo to pip residence favourite Max Verstappen to the place by 0.012s.
Charles Leclerc was Ferrari’s best-placed consultant, 0.966s off the tempo in sixth. That places Mercedes, Crimson Bull Racing and Ferrari – together with Williams – separated by simply 0.08s simply hours earlier than qualifying.
Alex Albon was seventh within the second Williams automotive forward of Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin workforce needed to work via the night time to restore his wrecked automotive following his large FP2 crash.
Isack Hardjar was ninth quickest after lacking all of FP2 with an influence unit downside, whereas teammate Liam Lawson was 0.134s additional again in eleventh, the Racing Bulls pair sandwiching Alonso in tenth.
Yuki Tsunoda was twelfth and 0.424s slower than Verstappen.
Gabriel Bortoleto was thirteenth forward of Lewis Hamilton, Oliver Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg, Andrea Kimi Antonelli – who needed to pit unexpectedly in the course of the qualifying simulations with a gear change problem – and Esteban Ocon.
Alpine endured a dire session, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto locking out the ultimate two locations. Gasly was 1.991s off the tempo, whereas Colapinto was 0.091s additional again.
