Everything that happened in final US GP F1 practice

Sergio Perez was fastest again in final practice for Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix at Austin, as both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had quicker laps deleted for exceeding track limits.

Key moments

– Verstappen and Hamilton would’ve been 1-2 but for lap deletions
– Perez leads Sainz by 0.104s
– Bottas has two laps deleted and also spins

Verstappen’s 1m34.383s lap would’ve stood as the fastest of the session had it not been wiped for going off track at Turn 9.

His title rival Hamilton had exactly the same experience on a 1m34.458s lap moments later.

That put the other Red Bull of Perez on top with a 1m34.701s lap, a tenth of a second ahead of an impressive run from Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

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Verstappen and Hamilton ended up classified third and sixth respectively, with Verstappen having had to call off one final effort to go quicker when he encountered heavy traffic.

He had also lost running earlier in the session while Red Bull made a precautionary rear wing change having spotted a hairline crack.

Valtteri Bottas – who has a five-place grid penalty for engine component changes – had two quick laps deleted and had a spin, but still managed fifth place ahead of Hamilton.

McLaren had a strong run with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth and seventh places.

Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.

Ocon’s Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso was announced as having taken a full set of new engine components, meaning he’ll join Sebastian Vettel and FP3 spinner George Russell in starting at the back.

Practice 3 Results