Lewis Hamilton finished final practice on top for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, leading Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc into qualifying in Austin.
Hamilton was the only driver to break the 1:35 mark in the final 20 minutes of third practice, as frequent track limit transgressions prevented Ferrari teammate Leclerc from leapfrogging him in the standings.
After a first quarter of the session that can only be described as pedestrian, the action resumed as Hamilton set a time of 1’36.716 on soft tires to edge out a number of installation laps on medium tires.
His time was quickly beaten by Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while several big hitters continued to put in laps on medium tyres.
Verstappen even took the lead thanks to a time of 1m35.702s on the yellow wall tire, despite recurring complaints about his troubling downshifts.
Hamilton quickly improved on the Dutchman’s lap, using soft tires to set a time of 1’35”561. But when Leclerc took charge with a time of 1’35”127 despite using slower mediums, it underlined that there was still a lot more pace to be found.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Anni Graf – Formula 1 via Getty Images
Entering the final 20 minutes, Antonelli took a tenth of Leclerc’s time on softs, but his lap was scratched for exceeding the track limits at turn 9.
Verstappen stuck to the white lines to set a time of 1m35.061 and reach the top, with Red Bull the quickest car in the first sector, only for Hamilton to dip below the 1m35.893 barrier with a 1m34.893.
Track limitations, which have been a recurring theme throughout testing, also prevented Leclerc from recovering first as he crossed the white line at Turn 10.
This meant the Monegasque had to settle for third behind Hamilton and Verstappen, setting up a well-balanced qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Championship leader Antonelli finished fourth ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, as the Silver Arrows appeared to be half a step behind in terms of pure pace, while Piastri was sixth in the difficult to tame MCL40.
At Audi, Nico Hulkenberg held McLaren’s Lando Norris to seventh, with the world champion’s 1m35.2s also stripped for track limits at Turn 10.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly finished ninth, a second behind Hamilton, with Isack Hadjar 10th in the second Red Bull, the Frenchman frustrated with his car’s handling.
F1 United States GP Results – FP3
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