Russell leads Piastri and Sargeant in FP3 of Las Vegas GP

Mercedes’ George Russell topped the timing boards in the final practice session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, ahead of both McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Williams’ Logan Sargeant.

Following a bite-size FP1 and an extended FP2, the 20 drivers returned to the circuit on Friday night (Saturday morning in the UK) to complete the final practice session of the inaugural Las Vegas GP weekend.

It wasn’t long before the drivers got out on track, headed by the McLarens of Piastri and Lando Norris. In the opening stints, there was a healthy mix of mediums and soft compounds among the drivers.

Due to the Mojave Desert and a significant number of road cars using the track between FP2 and FP3, the circuit dusted up which meant the drivers were forced to clean the track once more. Of the opening laps, the lap times were four seconds slower than Leclerc’s best time in FP2.

However, the session was brought to a premature end once more as Williams’ Alexander Albon hit the barriers in the final minutes of final practice which brought out the red flags, who had lost his tyre in the process. It was confirmed the session would not be resumed.

In turn, this meant Russell headed the timing boards with a time of 1:34.093s, three-tenths ahead of Piastri and Sargeant who took second and third. The two Red Bulls completed the top five with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in fourth and fifth respectively.

Unfortunately, Albon completed the session in sixth ahead of both Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively, nine-tenths off the pace.

Norris was the last driver to remain within a second of the benchmark, down in P11, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo). As a result of the red flags, the two Ferraris were not able to continue on with their final laps to bolster their position. This meant the two Scuderia drivers finished in 16th and 17th with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz respectively.

Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and, Tsunoda’s teammate, Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the bottom three in 18th, 19th and 20th respectively.

That’s all for the article; Russell leads Piastri and Sargeant in FP3 of Las Vegas GP!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Leclerc tops Las Vegas GP FP2 as fans are kicked out
• Carlos Sainz suffers 10-place grid penalty for Las Vegas GP
• Las Vegas GP: Leclerc on top of bitesize FP1 as a drain cover fails
• Red Bull reveal the ‘Neon Bull’ ahead of Las Vegas GP
• Lia Block will represent Williams Racing in F1 Academy in 2024
• Williams adorn Vegas-inspired livery ahead of Las Vegas GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.