The final practice session before qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix brought more trouble for Oliver Bearman, as his difficult weekend continued. After missing FP2 due to his heavy crash in the first session, the Haas rookie finally returned to the track but only managed two laps before spinning off at Turn 11.

Dropping a wheel onto the grass under braking, he lost control and ended up in the gravel, bringing out the red flags. Clearly frustrated, Bearman climbed out as marshals recovered his damaged car, while his mechanics shook their heads in disappointment.

With 49 minutes remaining, the session resumed, and Esteban Ocon was the first to set a time with a 1:20.063. While most drivers got into their programmes, Liam Lawson suffered another setback as his Red Bull had a technical issue, forcing him back into the garage without setting a time. Red Bull later announced that Lawson remained in the garage due to a “PU or PU system problem on the air side”.

At the halfway mark, Max Verstappen led the session with a 1:16.646, just ahead of an impressive Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Sainz had a small scare earlier, brushing the Turn 3 wall, but it didn’t slow him down much. Verstappen looked set to improve on another soft-tyre run but made a mistake in the final sector and backed off, complaining that the car felt “a bit loose.”

Meanwhile, Ferrari showed their strength as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton moved into second and third, pushing the Williams drivers down the order.

The final minutes saw a flurry of fast laps as drivers prepared for qualifying. George Russell briefly took P1 before home favourite Oscar Piastri lit up the timing screens, setting a 1:15.921 – the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

Verstappen improved but had a slide at Turn 11 on his last attempt, finishing third behind Russell. Leclerc secured fourth place, while Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli impressed in fifth, ahead of the Williams pair of Sainz and Albon.

Hamilton ended up eighth as he continued to adjust to his Ferrari, finishing just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in ninth. Lando Norris,Who had to abandon a promising lap due to traffic, completed the top ten.