George Russell destroys F1 rivals in disrupted Melbourne FP3 after terrifying crash

George Russell went fastest during the third and final practice session at the Australian Grand Prix, beating Lewis Hamilton by a massive six-and-a-half tenths in Melbourne.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three ahead of qualifying, ahead of Oscar Piastri and the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.

FP3 at the Albert Park Circuit was delayed by 20 minutes after damage to the barriers at Turn 5 following a collision between PREMA drivers during the F3 sprint race.

Arvid Lindblad continued his strong form on debut for Racing Bulls, finishing the session in P11.

There were two red flags during the session, first because of a reliability issue for Carlos Sainz, and the second was the result of a huge collision for Kimi Antonelli, which will put his qualifying in doubt.

Check out the full report below.

Delay and first red flag

FP3 was delayed by 20 minutes after repairs were required at Turn 5 of the Albert Park Circuit, the result of an intra-Prema crash during the F3 sprint race, which was subsequently abandoned.

Prior to that, the FIA had confirmed the removal of the straight mode zone between Turns 8 and 9. This came after feedback from drivers during their briefing with the motorsport governing body.

However, in an unexpected twist, further feedback from the teams after the change led to that alteration being discarded ahead of the session. Further evaluation will take place after FP3.

Aston Martin confirmed Lance Stroll would be late on circuit after power unit work led to a delay in his AMR26 being rebuilt.

The Canadian would ultimately not make it out, but to an issue with his car's internal combustion engine.

Once the session got underway, the Ferraris and Mercedes pair looked strongest, with Piastri continuing to show strong form in front of his adoring hometown fans.

But fewer than 15 minutes into the hour, Sainz's Williams came to a halt at the entry of the pit lane, leading to a red flag that cost the teams eight minutes of running.

When the session resumed, the leading teams continued to trade fastest times, as expected.

Valtteri Bottas was one of a few drivers who endured small mistakes, locking up his Cadillac into Turn 3. However, the Finnish driver would end the session quicker than new team-mate Sergio Perez.

Second red flag

With just under a quarter of an hour to go, Antonelli was the victim of a scary crash, ending his session and further disrupting the track action.

Coming out of Turn 1, he went over the exit kerb, with his Mercedes suddenly thrown into the barrier on the outside of Turn 2.

The Brackley-based squad has its work cut out to have his W17 ready for qualifying.

When the running did resume with just four minutes left, Russell sent a serious statement of intent, going significantly quicker than the two Ferraris and showing the Mercedes is the car to beat heading into the grid-setting hour.