#MiamiGP FP3: @Max33Verstappen leads from @CharlesLeclerc, @SChecoPerez. #F1

Verstappen Miami GP FP3 – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended FP3 quickest at the Miami GP ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and team-mate Sergio Perez who rounded out the top three.

Verstappen’s benchmark was a 1:27.535, posted on the C4 red side-walled softer compounds and was 0.406 faster than Leclerc with Red Bull team-mate Perez a further 0.515 seconds adrift of the Dutchman in third.

BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon was the first to register a lap-time with a 1:31.123 on the C3 yellow-marked mediums, which was enough for an early edge over Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari pairing then followed with their initial laps of the session on the softs with Carlos Sainz setting the quickest lap of the two, a 1:30.748, which was three-tenths clear than Leclerc.

Ocon then jumped above them with another flyer on the mediums, but was beaten by Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly on the same rubber.

Then the Red Bull’s came out to play on the softs, Perez posted the first, a 1:29.266, but this was rapidly trounced by team-mate Verstappen’s 1:28.963 – just about a second off the ultimate pace in yesterday’s Free Practice 2 session.

Leclerc then split the Red Bull duo in second place with a 1:29.057, also on the softer tyres, to get within a tenth of Verstappen’s effort, which stood for five minutes until Perez shot in a 1:28.641.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso then moved into third on the mediums, just three tenths off Perez, but Verstappen then blew away Perez’s benchmark, replicating his pace from FP2 and setting a 1:27.969.

Sainz’s next flying tour closed the gap to Verstappen, with the Ferrari driver’s 1:28.125 getting to within two-tenths adrift, as the drivers reported improving track conditions as grip proved to be at optimal over the day.

Verstappen then posted a 1:27.669, which remained un-troubled for the middle phase of proceedings as teams continued to do long race data run gathering that they’d missed out on during FP2 following Leclerc’s late shunt.

Verstappen then extended his advantage with 15 minutes left on the clock, taking a tenth off his benchmark and continued to push for more purple sectors in the final quarter of Free Practice 3.

The Dutchman’s progression continued, gaining another 0.06 out of his best effort as the session went down to 10 minutes remaining, with a gap of well-over 0.6 seconds over the rest of the pack.

Perez brought the gap down with a 1:28.050, before he was pipped right at the end by Leclerc – who blasted a 1:27.941 to move up to second.

Sainz followed in the other SF-23 entry in fourth and in-front of Alpine pairing Ocon and Gasly who were fifth and sixth respectively.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas followed in seventh place and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who took eighth.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top ten.

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen finished FP3 outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Aston Martin’s Alonso who was 12th, Mercedes’ Hamilton who came 13th in the order and the other Aston AMR23 entry of Lance Stroll who takes 14th in the classification.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu placed 15th and in-front of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who took 16th and Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant who ended the session 17th.

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were 18th and 19th respectively as AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2023 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1208/miami/practice-3.html

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