Lando Norris topped the timesheet in final practice for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, beating McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by just over a tenth of a second, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third. 

At the start of the session, Verstappen put the first time on the board with a lap of 1:06.131 on Hard tyres. The Dutchman then quickly worked his way down to 1:05.818, though he was unhappy with his car, complaining that it was feeling “a bit snappy” when getting the power down. Yuki Tsunoda then joined his team-mate, taking P2 with his first flyer of 1:05.928, set on Softs. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, also on Soft tyres, then slotted into third place, seven tenths of a second adrift of Verstappen. 

As Verstappen headed back towards the pit lane following his opening run, McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped ahead of the Dutchman, claiming P1 with a lap of 1:05.412 set on Soft tyres. Tsunoda also used the softer rubber to his advantage, and he climbed back to P2 with a lap of 1:05.499, 0.087 off Norris. 

Norris, though, was finding sizeable amounts of time on his next flyer and he dropped his own benchmark to 1:04.888 as Hamilton claimed second 0.453s adrift of the McLaren driver. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, lay fourth following his first run and though his second allowed him to leapfrog Tsunoda, the championship leader was still half a second off his team-mate. The Australian was soon bumped down the order, however, as Hamilton got to within four tenths of Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell took third with a lap of 1:05.366. 

That dropped Piastri to fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc, Tsunoda, and Kimi Antonelli, with all of the top seven on Soft tyres. Verstappen, meanwhile, returned to the track for another run on the same set of Hard tyres before retreating back to the Red Bull garage. 

Russell then went for another Soft tyre run but though the Mercedes driver posted a fastest first sector he couldn’t outpace Norris’ earlier flyer, and he moved to P2, 0.130s off the McLaren. Antonelli also improved, climbing to P3, three hundredths of a second off his team-mate.

After getting Turn 1 wrong on his next run, Norris then stitched together another strong lap and with three purple sectors the Briton tightened his grip on P1 by improving by half a second to 1:04.324. 

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll then went for his quali sim, and the Canadian driver took P4 with a lap of 1:05.062. Tsunoda was next to put in a qualifying lap and the Japanese driver posted a lap of 1:05.139 to jump from P12 to fifth place a little under a tenth behind Stroll. 

Piastri then went for his quali run and the Australian put in a good lap of 1:04.442, 0.118s off his team-mate. 

With a little under 10 minutes remaining, Verstappen, who had some work done on the floor of his RB21, headed out on a set of Soft tyres and the Dutchman jumped to third place, 0.210s off top spot. Behind the Red Bull driver, Norris looked to be going even quicker, but after a purple first sector he overcooked Turn 3 and clattered over the sausage kerb in Turn 3 and abandoned the lap. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.324 21 242.111
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.442 0.118 20 241.668
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:04.534 0.210 28 241.323
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.574 0.250 20 241.174
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:04.790 0.466 23 240.370
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.018 0.694 18 239.527
7 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:05.053 0.729 18 239.398
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.062 0.738 20 239.365
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:05.139 0.815 17 239.082
10 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:05.182 0.858 18 238.924
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:05.182 0.858 19 238.924
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.243 0.919 21 238.701
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:05.283 0.959 18 238.555
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:05.314 0.990 22 238.441
15 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:05.326 1.002 21 238.398
16 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:05.366 1.042 21 238.252
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:05.366 1.042 26 238.252
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:05.519 1.195 21 237.695
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:05.546 1.222 26 237.598
20 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:06.023 1.699 18 235.881