FP3: Norris tops the timesheets from Piastri and Verstappen during final practice in Imola

Lando Norris set the pace during the third and final practice hour ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Briton beating team mate Oscar Piastri to the top spot while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went third quickest.

After two busy sessions at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Friday – featuring several incidences of traffic – the drivers headed out again at 1230 local time on Saturday for a last opportunity to fine-tune their cars ahead of a crucial Qualifying later in the day.

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Norris was the first to briefly hit the track after the green light was displayed in a quiet start to FP3, the McLaren driver completing an out lap to give the hard tyre its debut running of the weekend. And while many seemed content to wait it out in their respective garages, other cars slowly began to emerge onto the circuit as the session got going.

Lewis Hamilton joined those making an early appearance on track, the seven-time World Champion perhaps keen to test the feel of the Ferrari after both he and team mate Charles Leclerc struggled with braking issues on Friday. The Briton also set an initial benchmark in the process, sitting top on a lap of 1m 15.866s.

As the session neared its halfway point and the action picked up, there was an eye-catching display from Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, the Frenchman making up for the disappointment of his FP2 spin by slotting into P1 on the timesheets via an effort of 1m 15.508s, just 0.021s ahead of Leclerc in P2.

Things were not going quite so well for his team mate Liam Lawson, however, who suffered a 360-degree spin that looked to have ruined his medium tyres. Elsewhere in the Red Bull stable, Verstappen had gone fastest on a 1m 15.130s, leading from Norris and Hadjar.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP2 at Imola as Piastri sets the pace, Ferrari struggle and Hadjar spins off

There was a bit of a moment in the pit lane as Hadjar prepared to complete a practice start near the exit – only for the Williams of Carlos Sainz to appear in the fast lane, resulting in a close call between them. Hadjar subsequently apologised over the radio.

With attentions for many turning to the soft-shod flying runs, George Russell ran wide out on track before reporting: “This ride is definitely a bit worse today.” The Mercedes man was not the only one to have a wobble, with Verstappen and Piastri also making mistakes during their laps.

Elswhere, Yuki Tsunoda did not seem happy at the wheel of the Red Bull, the Japanese driver radioing in that he had “absolutely zero pace”, while up ahead Norris had gone quickest with a time of 1m 14.897s.

Kimi Antonelli gave his home crowd something to smile about as he improved to go fourth, having seemingly lacked pace in comparison to Russell throughout the session. Norris, meanwhile, had a trip through the gravel before making his way back to the pits.

While Piastri bettered his previous lap to move up to second, it was ultimately not enough to dislodge Norris from the top, the Briton ending the session in P1 thanks to his earlier effort that kept him one-tenth clear of his team mate. Verstappen followed in third – the only non-McLaren driver within two-tenths of the papaya cars – with Antonelli fourth and Leclerc fifth.

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Sainz put his Williams into P6, while Hadjar, Russell, Alex Albon and Hamilton completed the top 10 order. Fernando Alonso claimed P11 for Aston Martin – a team that ran a different strategy by gathering data on the hard tyre during the session – ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll, Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Gabriel Bortoleto – who suffered a crash on Friday at the end of FP1 – was 16th in the Kick Sauber, followed by Tsunoda, the returning Franco Colapinto for Alpine, Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas of Esteban Ocon bringing up the rear in 20th and last place.

With the last practice session of the weekend now complete, the drivers and teams will have a final chance to debrief and examine their data before returning to action for Qualifying, which is set to get underway at 1600 local time.