Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
Mercedes confirmed its strength in Spa in final practice – but this time Norris and Verstappen were only a tenth of a second behind Antonelli’s best time.
Last chance before qualifying: in the third and final free practice session before grid positions are decided, Andrea Kimi Antonelli again set the fastest time with a 1:45.990 – almost identical to his FP2 time (1:45.944) and a clear sign that Mercedes’ pace the day before was no fluke. The difference from Saturday: this time the chasing pack stayed much closer.
Mercedes One-Two, Three Cars Within 0.15 Seconds
Behind Antonelli came Lando Norris (0.139 seconds) and Max Verstappen (0.148 seconds) – meaning just 0.148 seconds covered the top three, far tighter than the 0.472-second gap that had left Verstappen third in FP2. George Russell completed a strong picture for Mercedes in fourth (0.367 seconds): both of the team’s cars were inside the top four.
Leclerc Recovers, Audi Confirms Its Midfield Pace
After a weak FP2 (eleventh), Charles Leclerc bounced back to sixth, though that left him behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was fifth, for the third session in a row. Both Audi cars ran noticeably better than the day before: Nico Hülkenberg (eighth) and Gabriel Bortoleto (ninth) returned to the top ten after finishing FP2 down in 17th and 13th respectively.
Alonso Ahead of Stroll, Last Look Before Qualifying
At the back of the field, the two Aston Martin drivers swapped order: Fernando Alonso was 21st (4.165 seconds back), ahead of Lance Stroll this time, who was 22nd and 4.641 seconds off – the reverse of FP2. With three cars within roughly a tenth and a half of each other at the top, the afternoon’s qualifying promises to be the tightest session of the weekend so far, even though differing practice programmes make the times an unreliable guide to the grid.
