Miami GP: Perez leads Leclerc as Mercedes slump in Practice 3

Sergio Perez went quickest in a strange final practice ahead of qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix.

In red-hot afternoon temperatures, grip was hard to find as drivers scrambled for traction particularly out of the Turn 17 hairpin near the end of the lap.

But the first half of the session was disrupted by Esteban Ocon replicating Carlos Sainz’s accident at Turn 13/14, causing a red flag.

Beforehand, Max Verstappen, looking to recover from a difficult Friday, had set the early pace with a strong run on the medium tyre in the Red Bull.

But as clouds rolled in and new soft compound Pirellis were fitted, the lap times improved significantly in the final 10 minutes with Perez setting a 1m30.304s, albeit still slower than George Russell’s best time from Friday.

Charles Leclerc was able to split the two Red Bulls late on in second for Ferrari, ahead of a lucky Verstappen in third, who narrowly avoided crashing through the tricky Turn 14/15 chicane.

After their strong Friday, Mercedes was nowhere in Practice 3. Their car was porpoising more again on the straights, and as others improved, they stood still with Lewis Hamilton only 15th and Russell down in 17th.

The midfield order though was very topsy-turvy as drivers who nailed a good lap found themselves well up the order.

This was highlighted by Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher all in the top six, while Sainz was seventh in the second Ferrari.

Kevin Magnussen made it both Haas cars in the top 10 in P8, while Alex Albon continued his impressive pace in ninth for Williams.

Despite a scare at Turn 16 early on, Lando Norris completed the top 10 for McLaren.

Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below: