FP3: Norris heads utterly dominant McLaren one-two in final practice in Jeddah

McLaren continued to dominate the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris heading his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the final one-hour practice at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on Free Practice 3.

The third and final practice took place in hot 30 degree conditions as the sun began to set over the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Lando Norris ended the third and final practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend fastest of all, leading his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri by 0.024s while George Russell was best of the rest in third.

Max Verstappen continued to impress after his tough weekend last time out in Bahrain, going fourth fastest in the final hour of practice, fractionally beating the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Williams continued to impress with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz ending up sixth and seventh fastest while Pierre Gasly backed up his FP1-topping pace by again featuring in the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda took ninth, confirming his improved pace by setting a benchmark that was only three tenths slower than what his reigning champion team-mate managed.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes W16 into P10, ahead of Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, who complained about his drink system during the session.

Lewis Hamilton looked a bit more comfortable in his car after his first laps on the softs, but his struggles continued in the closing stages of the one-hour session as he ended the practice four tenths and seven places behind fifth placed Leclerc.

The seven-time world champion shared his pessimistic opening after Friday, claiming that he was simply trying to reach the top 10 and make Q3 which now looks like an ever-increasingly difficult task.

Liam Lawson was only a tenth slower than his team-mate Hadjar, ending up P13, from two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso in P14, Alpine driver Jack Doohan in P15 and Haas racer Oliver Bearman in P16.

Despite the excessive upgrade package that they introduced for this weekend's Jeddah round, Sauber struggled for pace, with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto finishing down in P17 and P19 while Esteban Ocon slotted in between the two Sauber drivers.

Aston Martin had a difficult session as Lance Stroll brought up the rear of the field in the final one-hour practice.