Max Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheet in a tricky final practice at the US Grand Prix.
Windy conditions in Austin offered a strong challenge for the drivers, as they struggled with lock-ups and instability through the 20 corners.
But the reigning world champion delivered the fastest time of the weekend so far, posting a 1m35.825s with his final flying lap of the session.
That put Verstappen three-tenths up on Charles Leclerc in second, though the Monegasque is expected to take a grid penalty for new power unit components.
As a result, third-placed Carlos Sainz is set to be the Red Bull driver’s main competition for pole, while Sergio Perez also has a penalty coming his way.
Lewis Hamilton lived up to his reputation as a specialist around the Circuit of the Americas in fifth, just 0.004s slower than the Mexican.
Behind was a half-second gap back to Fernando Alonso in sixth, with George Russell seventh in the other Mercedes.
The two Aston Martins continued their solid weekend so far as Sebastian Vettel took P8 and Lance Stroll P9, as Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
Highlighting the competitiveness in the midfield, less than a second covered Alonso in sixth to Alex Albon in 17th for Williams.
In that group, Valtteri Bottas was just 0.02s outside the top 10 in 11th.
Lando Norris was the lead McLaren in 12th, albeit less than two-tenths faster than teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 15th, with the Australian also dealing with a brake issue mid-session.
Esteban Ocon has work to do in 13th, while Kevin Magnussen was the lead Haas in 14th.
Yuki Tsunoda pipped the two Williams in P16-18, Mick Schumacher was 19th after losing a good portion of the session due to a gearbox problem.
Zhou Guanyu finished slowest after only doing three laps in his Alfa Romeo.
Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:
FP3 CLASSIFICATION ?
Max Verstappen tops FP3 at COTA! ?#USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/f7ncwINcol
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2022
