Sainz tops another practice session, while Norris' upgrades are fruitful

Carlos Sainz leads a British 2-3 to wrap up a revealing FP3, as George Russell shows signs that Mercedes have a lot of pace this weekend, while Norris seems to be able to capitalize well on the upgrades that McLaren brought for him this weekend.

Red Bull showed a slight sign that their pace could have improved overnight, as after the first laps, Verstappen found himself six-tenths ahead of anyone else on the medium tyres, while Perez was still a little bit slower, he still had a more competitive time than yesterday.

Ferrari still showed great signs of pace, as they continued on from yesterday, looking very strong in the middle sector, and about even with Red Bull in the third. While it was the Milton Keynes-based team that looked the strongest in the first sector, it appears the leading constructor has definitely unlocked something overnight.

Alex Albon recovered well from his issues in FP2 yesterday, to set a time early that put him into the top 10, but would only manage to finish 17th after all the fast laps were said and done, rounding up an up-and-down couple of practices for Williams.

Lando Norris showed continued progress with the new upgrades on his McLaren, as he found himself just outside the top five, with team boss Zak Brown confirming they were happy with the improvements made in conversation with Sky Sports, as well as confirming the Australian will receive the new package in Japan.

Mercedes spent time as 1-2 in FP3 during the middle stint, as they set soft tyre lap times, which managed to beat out the pace set by the Ferraris and Verstappen. George Russell leading his teammate by over two-tenths, as they’ll be looking to capitalize on the extra pace, they have found this weekend.

The lap times started to drop in the final third of the session, as Russell, Norris, and Esteban Ocon all attacked soft tyres first. Forming an early gauge on what pace to expect, as the McLaren and Mercedes were split by less than a tenth. Later on, it would be both their teammates who joined them at the top as Lewis Hamilton slid into P3 and Piastri just behind it.

However, maybe Red Bulls' pace wasn't as much as it originally indicated as Verstappen found himself three-tenths off Lando Norris with 10 minutes remaining in the session, before reporting issues with his upshifts that were "unacceptable" as he worked his way around on a slow lap. While he was able to improve on his time later in the session, it was only good enough for fourth.

It was then the Ferraris that showed how quick they truly were as we entered the final few minutes, they turned up the pace and Sainz worked his way to two-tenths clear at the top, Leclerc wasn't as successful as he lost time in the third sector on a quick lap, putting him into fourth place.