F1 News: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in FP3 for GP of Saudi Arabia

Lando Norris (pictured) turned a lap of 1m27.489s in his superior #4 McLaren to top final practice for the 2025 GP of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Oscar Piastri was 2nd fastest in the #81 superior McLaren, 0.024s behind Norris

The McLarens are so much faster than everyone else, no one else has a chance this weekend.

Second placed Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing Race winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren Rob Marshall, Chief Designer of McLaren and Third placed George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 16, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) — Formerly with Red Bull, McLaren Rob Marshall, Chief Designer of McLaren, has made the McLaren unbeatable. Was he really the brains behind Red Bull’s success in recent years? Adrian Newey got all the credit, but we have to wonder. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

George Russell was third fastest for Mercedes, 0.627s behind Norris.

Max Verstappen managed to drag the Red Bull RB21 sled up to 4th place, but a massive 0.845s behind Norris.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5 in the #16 Ferrari, 0.883s behind Norris.

The Williams of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz Jr. were 6th and 7th, 0.900s, and 1.081s respectively behind Norris.

Pierre Galy, fastest in Practice 1 on Friday, was 8th fastest, 1.136s behind Norris.

Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top-10 for Red Bull and Mercedes.

McLaren are sitting pretty, but a few teams have work to do. Ferrari are one – both drivers have complained about sliding around, and neither can extract the grip they want from the tires.

McLaren are way ahead on the timing sheets – over six tenths clear of Russell, eight and a half tenths ahead of Verstappen.

But we saw similar time gaps last weekend, and Qualifying ended up a very, very tight affair.

As it stands it is a two horse race, but do not discount the others from laying it all on the line and pulling something special out the bag.

It will take something very special to deny Norris or Piastri, though.

2025 GP of Saudi Arabia Practice 3 Results

Pos	No	Nat.	Driver	Car	Time	Behind	Laps
1	4	GBR	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:27.489	+0.000s	18
2	81	AUS	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:27.513	+0.024s	19
3	63	GBR	George Russell	Mercedes	1:28.116	+0.627s	17
4	1	NED	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:28.334	+0.845s	14
5	16	MON	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:28.372	+0.883s	21
6	23	THA	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:28.389	+0.900s	16
7	55	ESP	Carlos Sainz	Williams Mercedes	1:28.570	+1.081s	15
8	10	FRA	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:28.625	+1.136s	16
9	22	JPN	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:28.670	+1.181s	14
10	12	ITA	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:28.679	+1.190s	18
11	6	FRA	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda	1:28.769	+1.280s	17
12	44	GBR	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:28.780	+1.291s	20
13	30	NZL	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls Honda	1:28.861	+1.372s	18
14	14	ESP	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:28.888	+1.399s	19
15	7	AUS	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	1:28.898	+1.409s	21
16	87	GBR	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:28.989	+1.500s	15
17	27	GER	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.220	+1.731s	16
18	31	FRA	Esteban Ocon	Haas Ferrari	1:29.336	+1.847s	20
19	5	BRA	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.410	+1.921s	24
20	18	CAN	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:29.478	+1.989s	19