George Russell Tops FP3 at 2026 Austrian GP

George Russell set the fastest time in the third free practice session for the 2026 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, ending team-mate Kimi Antonelli's clean sweep of practice sessions.

The Mercedes driver posted a best lap of 1:07.096 to beat Antonelli by 0.038 seconds. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three, while Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen rounded out the top six, covered by just a quarter of a second.

Antonelli remained at the top of the timesheets for much of the session after setting the benchmark during the early qualifying simulations. However, Russell overturned the deficit in the closing minutes after Mercedes made front suspension changes to his W17 in a final effort to improve front-end balance.

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Russell also adopted the same tyre cooldown strategy used by Antonelli, driving through the pit lane before his final run on used soft tyres. The approach proved decisive as the championship leader was unable to improve on his final qualifying simulation.

Charles Leclerc endured another difficult session and finished seventh after a scruffy end to his qualifying simulations. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez used the opening part of FP3 to gather additional mileage for Cadillac following a disrupted Friday.

The FP3 result gives Mercedes valuable momentum heading into qualifying, with the fight for pole position expected to be extremely close as the top six drivers finished within only a few tenths of a second.