As the drivers suited up for their final practice before qualifying, two key pieces of news buzzed about the paddock. Firstly, the strict safety measures put in place by F1 have been proven to have paid off so far, with zero positive COVID-19 tests out of the 4,032 completed.
DAS declared legal
The second topic of discussion stemmed from last night's news that the stewards have officially declared Mercedes' Dual Axis Steering system as legal. This inquiry came after the first protest of the season from Red Bull who questioned the technology. Many have suggested that Christian Horner's team submitted the protest in order to get a better idea of how the system works, as well as checking the legality before adding their own version to their cars.
Whether aided by this technology or not, Mercedes were once again the clear front-runners in the final free practice at the Austrian GP. Hamilton finished quickest with a time of 1:04:130 and Valtteri Bottas followed only one-tenth behind. Both improved on their FP1 and FP2 times.
Back-to-back race winner is third best
Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured third spot at the 2.68 mile track, where he has experienced plenty of success in the past. The young Dutchman has won the last two races at his team's home track, with media labeling him 'The King of Austria'. His teammate Albon finished in sixth at the end of FP3, a huge improvement on his performance at the track back in 2019.
As the sky cleared of clouds above the Austrian mountains, the clouds disappeared over Charles Leclerc, with a far improved performance compared to yesterday. He slotted into 5th spot, just behind Racing Point's Perez, whilst his teammate Sebastian Vettel finished the session in 7th.
Red flag for the rookie
The first red flag of the season occurred around twenty-five minutes into the session, when rookie driver Nicholas Latifi hit in barriers at Turn 1. The crane was brought on track to remove the car, which had lost its front end. It will prove to be considerable building job for Williams in order to have it ready for the start of Qualifying, but its nothing they can't achieve. This is a tough start for Latifi on his first ever F1 weekend.
Strong midfield drivers Stroll, Gasly and Norris snuck into the Top 10, finishing 8th, 9th and 10th respectively. This was a good result for Norris, who performed better than his teammate Carlos Sainz, the soon to be Ferrari driver.
Whilst the top two spots may possibly be in the bag for Mercedes in the first qualifying of the season, it will be interesting to see how the following eight cars line up tomorrow when the lights go out. Watch out for the ever-improving Racing Point cars as well as an eager Max Verstappen.