George Russell tops Austrian GP FP3 as Lewis Hamilton gives Ferrari renewed optimism

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari pit stop, tire, garage, 2026 F1

2026 Austrian GP FP3 results: Mercedes confirms its pace as Lewis Hamilton roars back

The final hour of practice at the Red Bull Ring is now complete, and attention now turns to qualifying for the 2026 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. FP3 offered one last opportunity for teams to fine-tune their setups before the first truly competitive session of the weekend and provided further clues about the competitive order heading into Saturday afternoon.

Friday suggested Mercedes—particularly with Andrea Kimi Antonelli—held the advantage, while McLaren continued to make steady progress and Red Bull focused on validating its extensive aerodynamic upgrade package.

Ferrari, meanwhile, remained the biggest question mark after a Friday programme that blurred the line between genuine performance limitations and an aggressive data-gathering strategy. FP3 therefore represented an important chance to understand the true pace of the SF-26.

Before looking at the session itself, these were the track conditions:

Air temperature: 30°C
Track temperature: 50°C
Humidity: 32%
Wind: 1.8 m/s from the west

2026 Austrian GP FP3 summary

Sergio Perez was the first driver to head out on track, looking to recover valuable running after mechanical issues severely limited his Friday programme. The Mexican began his session on the medium compound tyres.

As is often the case in the final practice session, the opening minutes were relatively quiet. The first meaningful activity came after around ten minutes, when Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg ventured out, with Colapinto and Hadjar using the soft tyres while Hulkenberg opted for the hard compound.

The first front-runners to appear after around 15 minutes were Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, both running on soft tyres. Norris immediately set the first benchmark of the session with a 1:07.832, finishing three-and-a-half tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while George Russell slotted into third. Charles Leclerc’s opening effort placed him fifth, around eight tenths off the pace, although there was clearly plenty of lap time still to come.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli quickly picked up where he had left off on Friday, producing a 1:07.533 to move to the top of the timesheets ahead of Max Verstappen by 0.271 seconds, with Norris and Oscar Piastri following behind. Ferrari initially slipped down the order during the first push laps, but both drivers improved significantly on their second attempts using the same set of tyres.

Lewis Hamilton climbed to third, just 0.257 seconds behind Antonelli, before Charles Leclerc went even quicker to move into second place, only 0.15 seconds adrift of the Mercedes driver. George Russell then responded, moving into second and finishing just 0.017 seconds behind his teammate at the halfway point of the session.

Antonelli then delivered another impressive lap despite using a set of used soft tyres, stopping the clock at 1:07.134 and extending his advantage over George Russell to more than four tenths. Charles Leclerc also improved again to remain firmly in contention, while Mercedes made significant setup changes to George Russell’s W17 after the British driver requested a more responsive front end.

Ferrari, meanwhile, appeared satisfied with the overnight setup changes made to Lewis Hamilton’s SF-26, as the seven-time World Champion looked considerably more comfortable than he had on Friday.

With 15 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the circuit fitted with fresh soft tyres for their final qualifying simulations. Max Verstappen initially climbed to second before Lando Norris edged ahead of the Dutchman by a tiny margin. Lewis Hamilton then produced an excellent lap to move into second place, just 0.077 seconds behind Antonelli.

Charles Leclerc made a mistake at Turn 3 during his first attempt and was unable to improve on his second flying lap. George Russell initially moved into third before Antonelli completed another unusual run, improving only in the final sector as Mercedes focused on gathering additional information in that part of the circuit.

In the closing moments of the session, George Russell produced a superb final lap of 1:07.096 to snatch the fastest time from his teammate. Andrea Kimi Antonelli attempted one final response but lost valuable time after encountering traffic from a Cadillac, preventing him from reclaiming the top spot.