Charles Leclerc finished the third free practice session in Saudi Arabia as the fastest man. The Ferrari driver was a fraction too fast for Max Verstappen, who followed at just a few hundredths of a second. Sergio Perez proved that all was well with Red Bull Racing by posting the third fastest time.
Full results FP3 Saudi Arabia
Perez was close behind: the Mexican followed just one tenth off the fastest time in FP3. Meanwhile, Mercedes seems to be even further away from home than it was in Bahrain: Lewis Hamilton had to settle for eleventh place, while George Russell got no further than fourteenth.
Valtteri Bottas was also doing well: the Finn put his Alfa Romeo in fifth place, followed by the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Pierre Gasly was also on a good pace throughout the session and eventually recorded a seventh time ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who again parked his Haas well inside the top ten.