FP3: Hamilton is fastest during the final practice session of the United States GP ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished the third and final practice session for the United States Grand Prix at the top of the timesheet, with the Ferrari driver setting the pace ahead of Max Verstappen and teammate Charles Leclerc.

The result marked a clean sweep for the Scuderia, with the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli – who could seal their first title this weekend – and George Russell completing the top five positions.

It was a relatively quiet start to the session when the green light appeared at 12:30 p.m. local time, with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto the only three to venture out – the latter two will face grid penalties for Sunday’s race while the Mexican missed FP1 while Colton Herta earned a retirement for the American team.

With Leclerc leading both Friday tests, many eyes were on what Ferrari could deliver on track again – although the Monegasque warned against setting “high expectations” with other rivals having more “to unlock”. As the clock reached the 20-minute mark, there was perhaps the first example of this, as Verstappen reached the top of the timesheet thanks to a lap of 1’35.702 on the mediums.

Antonelli moved quickly to third, behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, while the early efforts of Lando Norris and Leclerc were canceled for track limit violations – a theme of the weekend after 128 laps were deleted in FP2. Hamilton then got into the action by usurping Verstappen’s initial benchmark, although the seven-time champion’s effort was on the soft tire compound.

Elsewhere, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was involved in a pit lane incident with Lance Stroll, as replays showed the Aston Martin man coming down the fast lane just as the German left for a practice start after pulling off to the side. The stewards quickly confirmed that the moment would be studied after the session.

As FP3 reached the halfway point, Leclerc quickly earned a lap time as he returned to the top of the timesheet with an impressive 1:35.127 on the mediums, a time that was 0.164 seconds faster than his leaderboard-leading effort in Friday’s FP2. Behind him were Antonelli, Hamilton and Verstappen – the Red Bull driver had just complained on the radio about his car’s gear changes.

More push laps were soon on the agenda as the Mercedes duo powered through the Circuit of the Americas on softs, with Antonelli claiming first place while Russell placed third behind Leclerc. However, the Italian fell victim to track limitations at Turn 9, leaving his race engineer Pete Bonnington to tell him: “you were doing so well.”

It was soon Verstappen’s turn to return to the top of the standings, before Hamilton became the first to break 1:34 by pushing the Red Bull man back into second place. Leclerc’s subsequent effort then saw him marginally ahead of his teammate on the front row, but the now familiar message of track limits also saw that effort deleted, with Leclerc falling back to third.

The checkered flag quickly arrived to round off the final practice session of the weekend, with Hamilton’s time of 1m34.893s enough to see him fastest and make it a clear sweep for the Scuderia. Verstappen’s effort left him second while Leclerc settled for third after that deleted lap time.

The Mercedes pair of Antonelli and Russell occupied fourth and fifth positions ahead of the McLaren of Piastri and the Audi Hulkenberg. Norris – who spoke yesterday about how difficult it was to ride his MCL40 – was eighth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ninth and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar tenth.

The Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were next in order – the rookie is the third driver facing a grid penalty on Sunday – while Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto and Fernando Alonso filled the spots up to 16th. Esteban Ocon was 17th ahead of Lance Stroll, with Williams’ disappointing weekend continuing as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz ended up 19th and 20th respectively. The Cadillacs of Perez and Valtteri Bottas complete the ranking in 21st and 22nd places.

With testing in Austin now complete, the paddock’s attention will turn to qualifying, which is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. local time.