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Piastri looks ahead to playing his part in constructors’ title showdown

Since its introduction in 1958, 170 chassis constructors have sent cars out to compete in the Formula 1 world championship for constructors, with a total of 15 winning the constructors’ championship. Ferrari holds down the record for most titles …

As fate would have it, this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will see a constructors’ championship showdown between Ferrari and McLaren. Currently holding down a 21-lead over Ferrari, McLaren can take its first constructors’ crown since 1998 if drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can conjure up 24 points Sunday afternoon at the Yas Marina Circuit.

“If we can cap it off with the world constructors’ championship this weekend, that would be the icing on the cake,” said Piastri, who is currently fourth in the drivers’ standings with 2024 grand prix victories at Hungary and Azerbaijan

In his second year as a McLaren F1 racer, Piastri is proud to be a member of the organization formed in 1963 by Bruce McLaren. Formed in 1963 and with 12 drivers’ world championships to its credit, Piastri is eager for the same sort of success with the team that McLaren legends James Hunt, Nicky Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton have attained.

“It’s very, very cool to be a part of McLaren,” said the Australian. “When you look back to before I was born and the history of the team, it is very incredible to be joining the list of McLaren drivers now and the list of world champions that we’ve had as a team. I think even more myself and watching McLaren while I was growing up, I’ve always liked the very, very old McLaren cars that you couldn’t miss out on the track. Now to be, hopefully this weekend, part of that next chapter of McLaren’s history is very exciting.”

While teammate Norris came closest to knocking Max Verstappen from his drivers’ championship pedestal this season, Piastri has a lot to be satisfied with from his sophomore campaign.

“I think it has definitely been a good year. Compared to last season, we’ve taken a nice step forward as a team. I also think for myself, personally, I feel like I’ve taken a step forwards, as well,” Piastri said. “I’ve got a couple of wins and a lot of podiums, so it has been a hell of a lot of fun, for sure. It has been a great season.”

Being such a high-profile driver in a high-profile F1 team, has Piastri found it difficult to focus at times in such a globetrotting series?

“It is a little it,” he admitted. “I mean we spend so much time on the road and at races, you often don’t have that much time to do much else. But it is good fun. I think for me, I’m here because I want to win races and become a world champion. I think staying focused is pretty straightforward. Of course it is a tiring season. It is a very long season we have nowadays, but I think when you’re fighting right at the front, it makes being motivated very easy.”

It takes a lot of behind-the-scenes effort to give Piastri his best shot. Steven Tee/Motorsport Images

And he’s still impressed by how much effort goes on behind the scenes in getting McLaren’s two cars onto the grid on every grand prix Sunday.

“Yes, there is a lot more behind the scenes that I guess people don’t see on TV,” said Piastri. “I think ‘Drive To Survive’ has probably shown a little bit of that in the last few years. You know we have a lot of commitments outside of driving — the amount of work we do with the media, with our sponsors and stuff like that. We probably drive the car for half the time we spend doing all the other things involved.

“Even just the traveling can be tough. On TV we magically appear from circuit to circuit, but it takes a long time to get to all these places. Especially this tripleheader has been brutal, going from Europe to Vegas and then all the way across the other side of the world for the next weekend. It’s been a busy few weeks, for sure.”

But the intensity of the competition makes it all worthwhile, he says.

“It has been a lot of fun fighting with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes this season,” said Piastri. “I think at times it was probably a bit closer than we would have liked, but I think it’s really great for the sport. It has been a long time since we have had such an open season and so many teams fighting for victories. More than seven drivers have won multiple races and it’s the first time in a lot of years where there have been so many different winners. It’s been exciting to be a part of.

“It’s very difficult out there. Every track we go to I feel like we’ve been quite consistent through the year. We have a different challenge or different challengers each weekend, so it is never easy. But as a fan, I think it’s great to watch. Even as a driver, knowing that you have a chance of winning each weekend — or at least being in the fight for it — is very exciting.”

Piastri battles with Mercedes’ George Russell in Qatar. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

With the competition fierce up and down the grid all season long, Piastri spoke about what it takes to find any edge he can.

“I think it all just hard work, really. There is the team around you trying to get the most out of the car. Obviously, it’s not just down to the driver, it’s down to the car, as well. But I think working together with the team to try and get the best combination of the two is very important. I think it’s a lot of hard work. Of course there is your training and looking out for your energy. There are a lot of things where I don’t know if you can necessarily gain an edge, but you can lose an edge. I’m trying to make sure that you are on top of all those things. The biggest thing, by far, is working with the team to be as prepared as possible when you’re on track.”

With the curtain about to come down on the 2024 F1 season, Piastri, still keen to optimize the past GP of the year is already putting an eye on 2025

“In 2025, hopefully, I’ll be fighting for both world championships. Of course it depends on what kind of car we have and what car our rivals have got. I think that’s definitely the hope and certainly what I’ll be preparing for in the off-season.

“I think this year I have made some really good steps forward from my rookie season. Especially in the races, I feel like we’ve taken a good step forward. However, I also feel that I’ve made too many races too difficult for myself in qualifying. I’m needing to make progress in the races through the field. I think that if I can tidy that up and start a bit higher up in most of the races, that would make life easier. I think that’s probably the biggest area to improve on for next year.”

Stella calls on FIA to review severity of penalties

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella wants the FIA to review the way penalties are applied given the severity of the punishment given to Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix. Norris was given a 10-second stop and go penalty in the second half of …

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella wants the FIA to review the way penalties are applied given the severity of the punishment given to Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix.

Norris was given a 10-second stop and go penalty in the second half of Sunday’s race for failing to slow for yellow flags earlier on, with the driver insisting he hadn’t seen the warning. Stella does not dispute that Norris deserved to be penalized, but says the most severe penalty below a disqualification was questionable given the circumstances of a mirror on track leading to the yellow flag zone.

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“We checked on the data, Lando enters the sector when the yellow flag is displayed, but fair enough, the requirement is very clear, when there’s a yellow sector you are required to slow down and this is the responsibility of the driver, the penalty was deserved in that case,” Stella said.

“Which leads us then to two important requirements that we all, for sure, would like to know are applied when it’s about giving a penalty. It’s two important concepts: One is proportion and the second is specificity. I think the application of the penalty lacks both requirements.

“The specificity has to do with what case are we actually considering. Is there immediate danger for somebody? Is there a crash scene? The specificity of the incident in which the infringement was committed, the specificity leads into the proportion.

“The penalty needs to be commensurate, it needs to be proportioned to the severity of the incident. It’s interesting that the FIA themselves were going on and off with the yellow flag, and at some stage the yellow flag was even removed, right? Which gives a sense of from a specificity point of view, of how severe the situation is.

“So, I think I’m here acknowledge that checking the data Lando did not slow down, but the lack of any specificity and proportion is very concerning. And it’s also a factor that could have a decisive impact on our championship quest.

“It’s definitely material that the FIA should consider very seriously if we want fairness to be part of the going racing in Formula 1. It’s an important business. There’s a huge commitment from every team, from all the parties, and we need to make sure the business is run in a way that the fundamental element of proportion and specificity is guaranteed when a penalty is applied. Otherwise the consequence may go out of control.

“To me it looks like somewhere there must be a book with a lot of dust on the cover that was kind of taken out: ‘Let me see what it says, I apply this’. Seems a little bit too simplistic.”

Stella’s comments come after the FIA changed race director prior to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as well as firing a senior steward in the form of Tim Mayer. The penalty dropped Norris from second place to tenth in the race, leaving McLaren 21 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, and Stella says Norris should not be overly harsh on himself for the infringement.

“What I can say is that we are in a position of going into the final race leading the championship because our two drivers have done an amazing job and this has delivered the points that when summed give us the leadership from the constructors’ point of view,” Stella said. “Lando has been the main contributor to put McLaren in this condition.

“While we look at what we can do better – and certainly pain and disappointment are the prevailing feelings on Lando’s side – at the same time we can only be thankful to what Lando has done for the team and we are sure that this will give him even more determination to have a strong race in Abu Dhabi and complete the job that it was not possible to complete in Qatar.”

Norris owns up to Qatar GP penalty: ‘I let the team down’

Lando Norris says he has no complaints about the severity of his penalty for not slowing for yellow flags in the Qatar Grand Prix and apologized to McLaren for costing the team points. The stewards gave Norris a 10s stop-and-go penalty for failing …

Lando Norris says he has no complaints about the severity of his penalty for not slowing for yellow flags in the Qatar Grand Prix and apologized to McLaren for costing the team points.

The stewards gave Norris a 10s stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags during the first half of the race when a wing mirror was sitting on the pit straight. On the lap in question, Norris gained more than half a second on the cars around him — setting a personal best — in the first sector, and he says he was unaware of the yellow flag but did not dispute the penalty.

“Disappointed, of course. I let the team down,” Norris said. “The team gave me a great car today. Easily the quickest out there and I [expletive] it up.

“I don’t know what I did wrong. I’m not an idiot — if there’s a yellow flag I know I need to slow down, that’s rule number one. [And] don’t go past people. For some reason I didn’t do that today, because I’ve not seen it or I’ve missed it or something.

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“I have to take it on the chin. If they think I’ve done something wrong, I must have done something wrong. I can only apologize for the rest of the year to the team.

“I didn’t give up until the end. I did [the] best I could. I’m disappointed — two points for the quickest car I’ve ever seen.”

When it was put to Norris that some commenters had been surprised at the scale of penalty, he was dismissive of any complaints.

“It’s fine,” he said. “If I did what they said I did wrong, then good on them for giving me the quick penalty.”

Norris says he will have to make sure he doesn’t make any further mistakes in Abu Dhabi next weekend to give the team the best chance possible to secure the constructors’ championship.

“The team gave me the best car out there today,” he said. “I’m very happy and thankful for them to do so. I got a good start, I got past George [Russell]. I thought George would be our biggest competitor today and that wasn’t the case; Max was, and he did an incredible job.

“We go in the same as every weekend, wanting to win, wanting to be the best, wanting to be the fastest. I just need to not be an idiot and do what I did.”

James named director of motorsport for McLaren Automotive

NEOM McLaren Electric Racing director and Formula E team principal Ian James is taking on an additional role within the wider McLaren group, becoming the director of motorsport at McLaren Automotive. James replaces the retiring Mick McDonagh – who …

NEOM McLaren Electric Racing director and Formula E team principal Ian James is taking on an additional role within the wider McLaren group, becoming the director of motorsport at McLaren Automotive.

James replaces the retiring Mick McDonagh — who is leaving after over four years with the company — in the role, which will see him oversee all of McLaren’s customer GT racing programs, reporting to Automotive CEO Michael Leiters.

Former Mercedes Formula E team principal James — who is not the Heart of Racing team principal with whom he shares the same name — will continue to run McLaren Racing’s electric motorsport programs alongside his new role, but his new position on the McLaren Automotive side marks something of a return to his roots. James began his career as a manufacturing engineer on the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren road car project between 2001-’05.

“I look forward to welcoming Ian and enhancing collaboration with our Racing colleagues,” said Leiters. “In motorsport, we prove the performance and durability of our cars on the track and demonstrate to the world our racing pedigree and Ian’s experience and success in this arena will accelerate our achievements.

“I would like to thank Mick for his dedication and service to McLaren in leading this significant pillar of our brand. His leadership in this area, in which he has overseen our entry in WEC as well as the expansion of the McLaren Trophy championship, has been integral to its ongoing success.”

In addition to James’ new role, McLaren has also created two new management positions. Long-time factory driver Rob Bell will assume the role of sporting director, while chief engineer Malcolm Gerrish will become technical and operations director, with both reporting to James.

James’ NEOM McLaren Formula E team will begin its third season on Dec. 7 in Sao Paulo with Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard driving, the latter having replaced Jake Hughes in the off-season.

Verstappen ‘probably would have lapped us’ – Norris

Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen was so much faster than McLaren in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that “he probably would have lapped us.” Verstappen started 17th on the grid, but having climbed into the top three he took advantage of a red flag …

Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen was so much faster than McLaren in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that “he probably would have lapped us.”

Verstappen started 17th on the grid, but having climbed into the top three he took advantage of a red flag period to make a free tire change and went on to win by over 20s. Such was the pace Verstappen showed in scything through the field and then pulling away in the wet, Norris — who started on pole but finished sixth — believes McLaren didn’t have the performance to match even if he’d struggled for the top speed to overtake.

“No, if anything, wing was helping today,” Norris said. “We weren’t quick enough. Max was easily quicker than us so I think if he went from the front, he probably would have lapped us. The pace was good. I think similar to George [Russell], but the Red Bull was way faster.

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“It’s been an up and down weekend for sure. Not a lot more I could do. I’m sure George probably feels like he [could have] won the race today. He deserved it more than anyone else. I’d probably have finished third realistically, so it’s tough. Max probably would have come through anyway and probably beaten us, but… yeah, just unlucky for us. Nothing more than that. I made a couple of mistakes which I own up to and which cost me a couple of positions in the end.”

Norris says the decision to fit new intermediate tires as rain intensified was the right one even though Red Bull and Alpine both benefitted from staying out and gaining during the red flag period.

“The right time to box — it was the right thing, so no regrets, just unlucky,” he said. “It’s a silly rule that no one agrees with, but you’ll always agree with it when it benefits you, you know? Every driver said that they don’t agree with it and they wanted it changed. It’s just unfortunate, but it’s the rule. You win some, you lose some. It benefited them today, so… Well done to them.”

Norris could still face a post-race penalty for a starting procedure infringement, with the stewards investigating the moment he pulled away from the grid for a second formation lap when the original start was aborted. George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are under investigation for the same incident.

Norris ‘not proud’ to win Sprint after team orders

Lando Norris says he’s “not proud” to have won the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as a result of teammate Oscar Piastri moving over for him. Piastri qualified on pole position for the Sprint ahead of Norris and the pair ran first and second …

Lando Norris says he’s “not proud” to have won the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as a result of teammate Oscar Piastri moving over for him.

Piastri qualified on pole position for the Sprint ahead of Norris and the pair ran first and second throughout the race, despite the close attentions of first Charles Leclerc and later Max Verstappen. With Norris in the fight for the drivers’ championship, Piastri was instructed to let his teammate through in the closing stages, and Norris says it was a sign of excellent teamwork.

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“I’m not proud about it but we worked well as a team together so I thank Oscar,” Norris said. “We’ve done a great job as a team, today was the result that we wanted. Oscar deserved it but we’re doing what we have to do, so I thank him and the team. We had great pace, so I’m looking forward to qualifying and the race tomorrow.”

Norris was on team radio telling McLaren he was going to try and overtake at one stage as he shadowed his teammate, but admits his track position made it challenging to stay close to Piastri.

“It’s tough. It was kind of like yo-yoing a little bit. Like I’d catch up, then I’d drop back, and catch up. It’s just the dirty air costs you a lot of lap time. I felt a bit quicker, but I couldn’t pass at the time, but I felt good. I think we were clearly quicker than the guys behind, but it’s just difficult in the Sprint race like this to know how much to manage and push and that kind of thing, but we executed it well.”

Piastri said it wasn’t a simple race, and that McLaren will need to find some steps ahead of qualifying for the grand prix to be stronger on Sunday.

“It was a bit tricky, to be honest,” Piastri said. “Very bumpy as we know and the racing line was incredibly narrow, you missed it by a tire width and you were in all sorts of trouble. A great day for the team and a lot of points. I think we learned a lot for the race tomorrow as well, and I’m happy.

“I think (I’m) optimistic (for the race). I think the pace was OK but the Ferrari was very quick at the start and Max was very quick at the end, so let’s see. I think we’ve got a few things we want to try and improve a bit for qualifying this afternoon and for the race tomorrow, but I think we’re in decent shape.”

Piastri willing to relinquish win in Sao Paulo Sprint if asked

Oscar Piastri says he would be willing to give up victory in the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to teammate Lando Norris if asked. McLaren locked out the front row of the grid on Friday afternoon, with Piastri pipping Norris by just 0.029s on …

Oscar Piastri says he would be willing to give up victory in the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to teammate Lando Norris if asked.

McLaren locked out the front row of the grid on Friday afternoon, with Piastri pipping Norris by just 0.029s on his final attempt of the session. Prior to that, Norris had looked quickest throughout Sprint qualifying, but starts second as he looks to close the gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship, and Piastri admits team orders could come into play on Saturday.

“We’ll see what the pace is like tomorrow for both of us,” Piastri told Sky Sports. “I think first and second is the first objective, and then we’ll see where it is. I know I’m not in the running for the drivers’ standings, and for the team it doesn’t matter which way round we are. So I know that’s the case, and we’ll see what they say.

“Yes, I said I would [give up a win] from when we first had these discussions. It would be nice to win, but it’s one point different and it’s not the main race. We’ll see — Lando needs the points in the drivers’ standings a lot more than I do, but of course I still want to win. If I put in the effort and have good pace, I’m sure that won’t go unnoticed, but let’s see.”

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Piastri says his lack of a second lap in SQ1 actually hampered his performance slightly as he looked slightly adrift of Norris for a spell, but that he managed to get on top of the high track evolution by his final attempt.

“The very first lap of the session in SQ1, I put in a really good lap, and then I didn’t do another one at the end of SQ1. The track was just really moving on really quickly — I think it was like a second and a half faster by the end,” he said. “So I think I was catching up a little bit through the rest of the runs, and the last laps on softs, they hung on for a second lap, which was nice, and I managed to put it on pole.”

Piastri insists he was expecting McLaren to have strong pace at Interlagos, but believes the Sprint will be tough for drivers given the bumpiness of the resurfaced track.

“It was coming together maybe a bit better than we expected, but I think we felt pretty comfortable after P1 this morning,” he said. “I think everybody was kind of thrown off a bit by just how bumpy the track was, so I think there were a lot of setup changes going on — the order was a bit jumbled. But I think we were confident that on paper we should be pretty strong, and I think that session showed it.

“I think seeing at the end of the straight is the first objective! It’s bad — it’s really, really bumpy, and I think everyone’s had to change a lot of things on their car to make them somewhat comfortable, but we’ll see. The grip is actually quite good, it’s just that trying to keep all four wheels on the ground at once is not that easy. The track is constantly evolving.”

‘I don’t think we have the pace’ – Norris fearful of Ferrari in Mexico

Lando Norris believes Ferrari’s pace at the Mexico City Grand Prix will make challenging Carlos Sainz for victory difficult for McLaren. Sainz took pole position by nearly a quarter of a second from Max Verstappen, with Norris over three-tenths off …

Lando Norris believes Ferrari’s pace at the Mexico City Grand Prix will make challenging Carlos Sainz for victory difficult for McLaren.

Sainz took pole position by nearly a quarter of a second from Max Verstappen, with Norris over three-tenths off Sainz in third place. With Ferrari having comfortably finished one-two in the last race in Austin, Norris is expecting another tough race against the Scuderia but insists he’s satisfied with his top three starting position despite showing strong pace earlier in the day.

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“Honestly I’m relatively happy-ish, still to be P3,” Norris said. “Not a great day [on Friday], I mean I missed obviously FP1 and the alternate tires. I felt like a bit on the back foot, but probably not as much as what Max was. But I’ve not been that comfortable at all.

“Found some good steps into qualifying, and obviously Q1 and Q2 were very good, but I found the limit very quickly. I was happy to find the limit and things were good, but just couldn’t progress from there.

“The car was too difficult to drive in Q3, too difficult to get especially three-tenths out of it compared to Carlos. So happy with third. For a minute, it looked like it could have been better. I think we finished where we should be.

“I was at the limit, I couldn’t go any quicker. It’s more that the others just didn’t get the most out of it. Pretty much every corner, I was close to locking up and making mistakes. I did that in my Q3 run one lap, but I had definitely nowhere close to three-tenths left in the car.

“So it was more that they just went quicker. I was at the limit, I got everything out of the car already in Q1 and Q2. Made us look like the ones to beat, but honestly since FP1, Ferrari have been the guys to beat, and Carlos is on top. Challenging to beat them.”

Norris felt he couldn’t match Sainz’s lap time even with a perfect qualifying effort, but admits there are question marks over long run pace given how performance can fluctuate between the top teams.

“I mean the race pace is always a tough one to know. The last few weekends, they’ve been extremely quick and quicker than us. So, I don’t have the confidence to say ‘Yes, we can just beat them on pace’, like [in qualifying], not on their level, but [today] is another day.

“If we can have a good start, hopefully it’s exciting down to Turn 1. But Carlos is going to be fast, like he said, he’s got nothing to lose, and they’ve been fastest for the last few weekends. We’ll try our best, but I don’t think we have the pace compared to them at the minute.”

Piastri takes blame for ‘painful’ Mexico City Q1 exit

Oscar Piastri admits the mistake he made in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix was painful as he dropped out in Q1. McLaren looked quick in FP3 on Saturday and was a contender for pole position but Piastri locked up on his first run in Q1 as …

Oscar Piastri admits the mistake he made in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix was painful as he dropped out in Q1.

McLaren looked quick in FP3 on Saturday and was a contender for pole position but Piastri locked up on his first run in Q1 as the team used medium tires initially. Then on softs for his final attempt, the Australian went wide at Turn 12 and couldn’t improve enough on a second timed lap so was eliminated in 17th place.

“I just went off in Turn 12, got beached on the curb there and that’s it,” Piastri said. “My lap was easily going to be enough so it’s frustrating to make that mistake. I lost about a second, so… painful.

“FP3 was very strong, even FP2. FP1 I struggled a bit, but FP2 I think we made some really good changes and I was comfortable. FP3 [was] very comfortable as well, and even in qualifying I felt good. Just a very silly mistake, trying a bit too hard in Q1, so that was it. I mean, at least I know where it all went wrong, but it still is painful to be stood here.”

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Piastri also suggested he could have aborted and done another run on new tires to try and advance but he was expecting to have the performance to improve regardless.

“We didn’t have to [stay out], but it felt like a very sensible decision to do that,” he explained. “I think we just had very, very little grip on that second lap, which was a shame, but I mean, I shouldn’t have even needed it. Obviously frustrating, because the pace looked very strong and I felt comfortable. Just tried a bit too much in Turn 12 and it bit me hard.”

A year ago, teammate Lando Norris also started 17th and finished fifth with an impressive drive in Mexico, and Piastri says that will be the template for his own recovery attempt on Sunday.

“Try and get back into the points, and strongly into the points, hopefully,” he said. “We’re trying to draw inspiration from Lando’s race last year and see what we can do. I think it’s going to be tough, because the field looks reasonably tight. I think we’ve got some pace on board this weekend, so we’ll try and use it to get through.”

McLaren ups the pace in third Mexico City GP practice

Oscar Piastri topped the crucial final practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris. FP3 was the first session of the weekend not interrupted by red flags, and with FP2 on Friday afternoon commandeered by …

McLaren, which struggled for ultimate pace on the first day of running, emerged fastest, with Piastri rocketing to top spot with a best time of 1m16.492s. Teammate Norris, the only McLaren driver running the team’s newest floor, was 0059s adrift.

The papaya pace was mighty enough to upset Ferrari considerably, with Carlos Sainz 0.34s off the pace after having topped Friday running. The Spaniard was most confident of his car’s race pace but was optimistic the SF-24 would at least be in the fight over one lap with McLaren.

Sainz was comfortably McLaren’s closest challenger, though, with Max Verstappen fourth, 0.511s down on Piastri.

The Dutchman complained of having no grip at either axle after his fastest lap, losing the most time to the leaders in the final sector, particularly the technical stadium section.

Lewis Hamilton was impressed by his 0.568s margin in fifth, having felt he’d put together a quick lap only to find himself more than half a second off the pace.

Charles Leclerc was sixth in the second Ferrari, having lost most of his time in the second and third sectors, though the Monegasque would have competed for fourth had he strung together all three of his best sectors on one lap.

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Yuki Tsunoda was impressive in seventh for RB at 0.81s off the pace, beating Mercedes’s George Russell. Russell was driving a largely rebuilt car after his heavy crash in FP2, the team revealing car No. 63 required an overnight chassis change but that its engine and gearbox were salvageable.

Kevin Magnussen was ninth for Haas ahead of Liam Lawson completing the top 10, 1.002s off the pace.

Alex Albon was 11th ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Franco Colapinto just outside the top 10.

Sergio Perez struggled to 14th, 1.295s off the pace, the Mexican complaining of insufficient front grip to attack the corners. He lost just over 0.2s per sector to his teammate, though his best time would have been closer without a lock-up in the stadium section.

Fernando Alonso was 15th as the best-placed Aston Martin ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who said his Haas car was struggling with “numb” brakes early in the session.

Lance Stroll was 17th ahead of Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly.