Oscar Piastri led McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in a chaotic final practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which featured two red flags.
Piastri was the only front-running driver to set a fully representative lap at the end of the session as he got his lap in before Sergio Perez crashed at the Variante Chicane with five minutes remaining.
Fernando Alonso also hit the wall at the final corner earlier in the session, which was mostly led by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz until Piastri and Norris vaulted to the top of the timesheets near the end.
Sainz finished in third, having set the time to beat on the first runs in final practice from team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions.
Just 0.020s split the Ferrari drivers and it’s not clear whether they would have been faster than Piastri had they completed their final runs on the soft tyres
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes but the Silver Arrows appeared to struggle with the bumps.
Red Bull made significant changes to their car overnight and didn’t complete any representative laps on the soft tyres due to Perez’s crash.
Max Verstappen ended up sixth, on the medium tyres, but the car looked much better compared to Friday.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout final practice and was 17th.
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Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso brings out the red flag during FP3 after making ‘a rare mistake’.
Red Bull still off the pace?
Red Bull were among the first cars on the track in final practice, something they don’t normally do, as they looked to see if their set-up changes had worked.
Verstappen, on the mediums, was three tenths slower than Sainz, on the softs, at the halfway point of the session and did not report any major issues with the car’s handling.
The reigning world champion is looking to equal Ayrton Senna’s record of eight consecutive pole positions when it comes to Qualifying, which is live on Sky Sports F1 at 3pm.
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Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache admits that Adrian Newey will be missed by the team, but insists they are ‘prepared’ for the future without him.
He appears set for his biggest challenge yet on a Saturday this year, however, with McLaren and Ferrari’s upgrades working well on the high-downforce track of Imola.
“We didn’t actually get to see what Red Bull’s pure pace could have been, but I do think they are under pressure,” said Sky Sports F1’s Damon Hill.
“It’s probably the least dominant they’ve been at any race we’ve been to in the last two years.”
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Mercedes technical director James Allison admits it has taken the team too long to adapt to the new regulations.
Perez’s crash means Red Bull cannot completely be ruled out of the fight for pole yet as Verstappen was not able to show his hand on the soft tyres.
Mercedes look like the next team behind the McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, but could face a battle with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who has been quick all weekend.
Sky Sports F1’s live Emilia Romagna GP schedule
Saturday May 18
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.10pm: Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
5.30pm: Indy 500 Qualifying
Sunday May 19
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Emilia Romagna GP build-up
2pm: The EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Emilia Romagna GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
8pm: Indy 500 Qualifying
Formula 1 heads to Europe as Imola returns to the calendar following last year’s cancelled race. Watch the Emilia Romagna GP this weekend, with Sunday’s race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime