FP3 Ends with Antonelli Fastest and Norris and Verstappen Behind

Kimi Antonelli continued to lay down a marker at Spa-Francorchamps, topping the timesheets in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix and reinforcing his position as the man to beat heading into qualifying. The Mercedes driver’s best lap of 1:45.990 was enough to head Lando Norris by just over a tenth of a second, with Max Verstappen splitting the McLaren and Mercedes camps in third after missing out on top spot by only 0.009 seconds more than Norris.

The closing stages of the session brought real drama, as Lewis Hamilton crashed heavily at the exit of the Fagnes chicane in the final minute, clipping the barrier in almost the exact spot where Pierre Gasly had gone off during Friday’s second practice. Hamilton was unhurt and radioed his team to admit he had wrecked the car, leaving Ferrari with a scramble to get the SF-26 repaired in time for qualifying just a couple of hours later. He still ended the session fifth quickest, one place ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, though the late impact will dominate the headlines from the session.

George Russell was the other notable mover, bouncing back from a difficult Friday to finish fourth, though he remained well over three tenths adrift of his championship-leading teammate. Oscar Piastri rounded out the top seven for McLaren after also losing time to reliability trouble on Friday, while Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto impressed for Audi in eighth and ninth. Isack Hadjar completed the top ten for Red Bull, having earlier been forced to stop on pit lane exit reporting a loss of power.

Below are the full results of the final practice session in Belgium before qualifying.