Norris fastest, both Astons cause red flags in Melbourne FP3

Lando Norris set a surprise fastest time for McLaren in a twice red-flagged final Australian Grand Prix practice.

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Key moments

– Both Aston Martins caused red flags
– Both Mercedes have minor incidents
– Verstappen spins
– Alonso fastest repeatedly
– Norris snatches top spot

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Both stoppages were caused by crashes for Aston Martin drivers.

The session was initially red-flagged for 10 minutes when Sebastian Vettel crashed heavily on what would’ve been his first flying lap.

Vettel lost control of his Aston Martin in the second part of the fast Turn 9/10 left/right and slewed over the gravel into the barriers.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Vettel is into the wall after a high-speed off at Turn 10

Driver is all OK and out of the car 👍#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/INi489HoLW

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 9, 2022

It caused significant damage to the car’s left-hand side, and continued an awful start to the 2022 season for Vettel – who missed the first two grands prix while suffering from COVID, then had an engine problem in first practice on Friday, was fined for riding a scooter on track to return to the pits, and then missed all of practice two.

His team-mate Lance Stroll then went into the barriers in the final sector himself in the final five minutes, albeit causing a little less damage.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Stroll is into the wall, the session will not be resumed

Driver is out of the car and OK #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tnqS6wljdx

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 9, 2022

But that caused another stoppage and this time the session did not resume.

That cemented a shock top spot for Norris and McLaren, at the end of an hour in which Fernando Alonso and Alpine had repeatedly impressed too.

Alonso had been fastest before the Vettel red flag, lost the top spot to Sergio Perez’s Red Bull but then retook it soon afterwards.

Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz then had spells in front before Norris put in a 1m19.117s to give McLaren by far its best moment of a tough 2022 season so far.

There was a possible late problem for Norris, though, with his engineer urging him to “bail” and not use full throttle halfway through his last lap of the session due to an “urgent” issue.

Championship leader Charles Leclerc got up to second but was still 0.132s off Norris.

Perez, Alonso and Sainz completed the top five, with Daniel Ricciardo underlining McLaren’s pace in sixth.

World champion Max Verstappen struggled to put together a clean and error-free lap, expressing concerns about the Red Bull’s balance over team radio and even spinning over the grass at the penultimate corner. He was only seventh, his best time set on medium tyres.

Max briefly loses it as he enters into the final corner! 😯

It's a quick recovery for the Dutchman, who continues on #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kKKJKOFJFc

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 9, 2022

Both Mercedes had trips off the road, Lewis Hamilton brushing the barrier in his. Hamilton was ultimately 0.779s off the pace in eighth, with George Russell 11th behind Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.

Practice 3 Results