Sergio Perez led a Red Bull one-two in the final practice session of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Though conditions were unrepresentative of qualifying later on Saturday, the Mexican set the pace with a 1m24.982s on the soft tyre.
Teammate Max Verstappen was second, but it was a scruffy lap from the reigning champion, who also exceeded track limits twice en route to setting his best time.
The two Mercedes’ followed in third and fourth as Lewis Hamilton, on a higher downforce setup, finishing almost two-tenths ahead of George Russell with a lower downforce approach.
Hamilton though is under investigation for failing to slow under red flags, caused by a puncture for Pierre Gasly after the wheel brow on his car failed on the Turn 9 exit kerb.
Puncture for Gasly ?
The front right tyre winglet flies off his car with his tyre deflating#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/t8f346P3HQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2022
Lando Norris finished ahead of the two Ferraris in fifth, as a late improvement moved Charles Leclerc ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.
Daniel Ricciardo was eighth in the second McLaren, with Sebastian Vettel ninth in his final practice session.
Williams’ focus on straight-line speed saw Alex Albon complete the top 10, though the Thai driver did have a very close moment with Norris through Turn 8, narrowly avoiding a big crash.
?| FP3 | ESSAIS LIBRES
Alex Albon n’a pris aucune marge en dépassant Lando Norris ! #F1 | #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/xemFYmDInI
— ???? (@_BeF1) November 19, 2022
Further down, the two Alpines sat 11th and 12th with Esteban Ocon just 0.003s faster than Fernando Alonso.
Yuki Tsunoda was 13th, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in 14th. 15th placed Pierre Gasly caused a brief red flag after suffering a front-right puncture when the wheel brow failed on the exit kerb of Turn 9.
Lance Stroll was 16th, followed by the two Haas’ of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher. Zhou Guanyu was 19th and Nicholas Latifi brought up the field for Williams.
Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:
? FP3 CLASSIFICATION ?
The @redbullracing duo power to the top ?#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/llBruLjCgD
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2022