The final practice session of the season opened in a steady way, with the title contenders taking their time before joining the track. Lando Norris, who can secure the World Championship with a top-three finish on Sunday, remained in the garage during the early minutes while the session settled. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri followed a similar approach, waiting for the circuit to rubber in before beginning their runs.

Aston Martin sent out Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso first, though neither driver completed a timed lap. The first benchmark came from Pierre Gasly, but the pace moved on quickly once Norris left the garage. He immediately went to the top of the timesheets and then improved on his next lap, even with a moment of oversteer. He also had a close call when he suddenly caught Yuki Tsunoda on the racing line, but both continued without issue.

As the final drivers joined the session, Verstappen moved to the top with a strong lap, putting himself ahead of Stroll and Oliver Bearman as the session approached halfway. The running was then interrupted by the first red flag of the weekend when Lewis Hamilton lost control at Turn 9. A sudden problem at the front of his Ferrari caused the rear to snap, sending him into the barrier. His car was damaged, but he was unhurt, and the session was able to continue once the track was cleared.

Just under twenty minutes remained when the green flag returned. Teams immediately returned to work, with Piastri jumping from the back of the order to P1 on fresh tyres. Norris responded shortly after, reclaiming the fastest time with an impressive final sector. Not long after, there was drama in the pit lane as Kimi Antonelli was released directly into Tsunoda’s path, making contact and damaging his front wing.

The final minutes were busy as drivers completed their last qualifying preparations. George Russell produced the quickest lap of the day to put Mercedes at the top, while Alonso delivered a strong performance to move up to fourth. The pack remained very tight, with less than four tenths separating the entire top ten.

The session finished with Russell leading by just 0.004 seconds from Norris, with Verstappen close behind in third. Alonso secured fourth place for Aston Martin, followed by Piastri in fifth. Haas enjoyed an impressive session with Ocon in sixth and Bearman in seventh, while Leclerc took eighth for Ferrari. Antonelli recovered to ninth despite his pit-lane incident, and Albon rounded out the top ten, only 0.388 seconds away from Russell’s benchmark.