FP3: Sainz leads Norris during ultra-close final practice

Braced for his three-place grid penalty carried into this weekend, Sergio Perez placed seventh in the second of the Red Bulls, while Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso enjoyed stronger sessions to put Williams and Aston Martin inside the top-10 positions.

Oscar Piastri could not quite match the pace of team mate Norris en route to 10th, with the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly slipping back to P11 and P12 respectively, from Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas).

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RB continued their efforts to get to grips with a massive update package en route to 16th and 18th with Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, who were split by Stroll, while the other Kick Sauber and Williams machines of Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant brought up the rear.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the paddock, dig through the data and turn their attentions to qualifying, which is set to begin at 1600 local time. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.