F1 Australian Grand Prix 2026: FP3 Results and Report as George Russell Goes Fastest; Kimi Antonelli In Heavy Crash

Mercedes finally showed what it was capable of at the Australian Grand Prix as George Russell topped FP3 with a scintillating lap.

The Briton set a best time of 1:19.053s to finish 0.616s faster than former teammate Lewis Hamilton, with the Ferrari driver's teammate Charles Leclerc in third.

But Russell's own partner, Kimi Antonelli, faces a race against time to make qualifying after a heavy crash late in the session.

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes — Mercedes-Benz Media

First red flags of the season

The final hour of practice began only after confusion over an FIA decision to remove 'Straight Mode' zone 4 between Turns 7 and 9 on safety grounds, which was soon rescinded after revolt from teams and drivers.

When the change was announced, teams began adjusting car set-ups from where they had left off on Friday, only to have to revert those changes when the FIA performed its U-turn.

There was also a lengthy delay to the start of the session as repairs were made to barriers on the exit of Turn 5 after a heavy crash in the Formula 3 race that preceded FP3, the green light was shown 20 minutes after the originally scheduled start time.

The start of FP3 has been delayed 🚨

Barrier repairs are ongoing at Turn 5 after an incident in Formula 3 #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/Nsxkk4q1oS
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

When the session did get underway, there was no mass rush onto the circuit as there was in FP1 and FP2, with only five cars out in the first two and a half minutes.

And while one of those was Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, his teammate Lance Stroll remained in team hospitality after work on the Honda power unit led to a delay in rebuilding his AMR26.

Carlos Sainz hit strife nine minutes into the hour as he ground to a halt at the entry to the pitlane, reminiscent of teammate Alex Albon's hydraulic failure on Friday. That triggered a virtual safety car as the Spaniard was left stranded.

🟡 VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR 🟡

Carlos Sainz has stopped at the entry of the pit lane 🚨#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/wpTwfmN9ch
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

After four minutes were wasted under VSC, a red flag was finally thrown to allow the Williams to be retrieved safely.

Track action recommenced after seven more minutes, this time with a queue at the end of the pitlane.

There was a continuation of the theme from Friday as multiple drivers struggled with front locking under braking at Turn 3 - the most spectacular being Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac smoking both front tires.

Albon sparked concern for Williams when he stopped between Turns 4 and 5, though he was able to cycle through a reset and continue for the remaining 20 minutes.

The second red flag of the session came with 12 minutes left after a major crash for Kimi Antonelli.

His Mercedes snapped at the rear on the exit of Turn 2 and hit the barriers hard on the exit, sustaining massive damage and leaving his mechanics with a monumental job to prepare for qualifying.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Kimi Antonelli has suffered a hefty crash at Turn 2. He is out of the car#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/sWkIOXD4gY
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

After fine work by the marshals, the session restarted with four minutes to go and gave everyone the chance for a full dress rehearsal of qualifying with a queue at the end of the pitlane and the need to find space on the track.

And it was Russell who delivered a stunning lap to finish six-tenths up on Hamilton, with Leclerc in third as Ferrari's strong start to the weekend continued. The concern for Mercedes' rivals will be that the Briton was even faster on the lap he had to abort when teammate Antonelli crashed.

Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren but over a second down on Russell, with Isack Hadjar faster than new Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.

Antonelli's first lap was good enough for seventh, with Lando Norris eighth, while Audi's impressive start to life in F1 continued with Gabriel Bortoleto heading the midfield in ninth.

Oliver Bearman and teammate Esteban Ocon were separated by Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson, the British rookie again faster than his more experienced teammate.

Nico Hulkenberg was 14th ahead of the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, while Albon was the lead Williams in 17th.

Alonso gave Aston Martin its best hour of the year so far by finishing 3.6s off the pace, comfortably within the 107% laptime needed to qualify for the race as he lapped continuously across the session.

Cadillac duo Bottas and Sergio Perez were the slowest of the 20 to set a time, with Sainz and Stroll failing to register a lap.

F1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 - FP3 Results

Position / Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1. George Russell / Mercedes	1:19.053
2. Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+0.616
3. Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	+0.774
4. Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+1.034
5. Isack Hadjar / Red Bull	+1.084
6. Max Verstappen / Red Bull	+1.144
7. Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	+1.271
8. Lando Norris / McLaren	+1.390
9. Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+1.406
10. Oliver Bearman / Haas	+1.725
11. Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+1.785
12. Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+1.837
13. Esteban Ocon / Haas	+1.930
14. Nico Hulkenberg / Audi	+2.014
15. Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+2.018
16. Franco Colapinto / Alpine	+2.360
17. Alex Albon / Williams	+2.611
18. Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin	+3.667
19. Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac	+4.461
20. Sergio Perez / Cadillac	+5.344
21. Carlos Sainz / Williams	No Time
22. Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	No Time