Pérez leads Leclerc and Verstappen in final practice at the Miami Grand Prix

Sergio Pérez led the third free practice session of the 2022 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA.

Charles Leclerc finished in second position, just 0.194 seconds slower than the Mexican. Max Verstappen finished in third position at the end of the session.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top five positions. The two Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, ended the session in fifteenth and seventeenth positions as under the conditions the W13 was porpoising again.

The race started under very hot conditions with air temperatures at 33 degrees C and track temperatures at 48 degrees C.

Verstappen set the early pace with a lap time of 1m34.037s. Leclerc displaced the Dutchman from the top spot with a lap of 1m32.250s. It was game on between the top two contenders as Verstappen went to the top of the time charts again with a lap time of 1m31.355s.

The two Mercedes drivers, Russell and Hamilton, were in third and fourth positions in the early running. Mick Schumacher with a strong lap put himself into third position.

With forty-five minutes of the session to go, Esteban Ocon brought out the red flags as he shunted into the wall at Turn 14.

Red flags have disrupted all three practice sessions at this brand new circuit on the Formula 1 calendar. Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas were in real need of track time as they were sat in the garage for long periods of time on Friday.

The session restarted with only thirty minutes left. Nicholas Latifi led the drivers back on to the track. Bottas and Sainz slotted into third and fourth positions. Alonso with a 1m32.177s went fifth fastest even as his Alpine F1 team-mate Ocon was taken to the medical center for a checkup after the heavy crash.

With fifteen minutes to go, the drivers started their qualification simulation on the soft compound tyres. Leclerc went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m30.981s, just 0.384 seconds faster than the time set by Verstappen on the medium compound tyres.

Then the Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers unleashed some serious pace with Verstappen taking the top spot with a lap of 1m30.649s, just 0.05 seconds ahead of Pérez.

In the last five minutes of the session, the lap times stumbled as the track temperatures also fell. Pérez went to the top of the time charts with a 1m30.304s. Verstappen in pursuit of the top spot went wide at Turn 14 and almost hit the wall.

Leclerc slotted into second position behind Pérez, just 0.194 seconds slower. The session ended with Leclerc splitting the two Red Bull Racing drivers Pérez and Verstappen.

2022 Miami Grand Prix FP3 Results: