George Russell of Mercedes set the fastest time in FP3 at the Australian GP, but the session was marred by a heavy crash involving teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell's 1m19.053s lap topped a session delayed by 20 minutes for barrier repairs after an F3 crash and interrupted twice by red flags. The first red flag came for a stop by Carlos Sainz, followed by a later red flag for Antonelli's crash in Turn 2, where he appeared to bottom out. The session resumed with 38 minutes left, allowing Leclerc and Piastri to challenge Russell before the final red flag for Antonelli's incident.

Qualifying now hinges on Mercedes building a new car for Antonelli, while Alonso's 1m22.267s lap offered faint hope for Aston Martin, though Stroll failed to set a lap. Russell's late flyer extended his lead over Hamilton and Leclerc, with four different teams in the top five. Antonelli's crash forced Mercedes into damage control ahead of the crucial qualifying session at 4pm local time.