Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton remained unbeaten in the Third Free Practice of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton topped the timesheets in the final practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with 1m 23.274s. His title rival, Max Verstappen was second fastest just two tenths of a second off the benchmark time as Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top three fastest lap times in the afternoon session.
The conditions at Yas Marina Circuit were at 39 degrees for the track temperatures and 26 degrees for air temperature. Pirelli tyre options were the soft compound C5, medium compound C4 and hard compound C5.
Verstappen was the first driver to set a time benchmark of 1m 24.997s on the medium tyre compound using the low downforce wing. Bottas went after Verstappen but only managed 1m 25.290s on the soft compound tyres which was a third of a second off Verstappen’s time.
Lewis Hamilton experienced delays after coming in a little later than the other drivers as his mechanics raced against time working on the brakes. The Briton later set a benchmark time of 1m 24.241s on soft tyres. However, Hamilton’s lead was shortlived as Bottas made a flying lap recording 1m 24.238 in the sister Mercedes beating the benchmark time with just 0.003s.
Lewis Hamilton later set a jaw breaking flying lap recording 1m 23.274s widening the margin over Bottas with 0.8s. Red Bull’s Verstappen recorded 1m 23.488s which was two tenths of a second slower than Hamilton after his flying lap on the softs after the team made changes to his rear wing.
In the closing stages of the session, Hamilton’s time remained at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen taking P2 and Bottas P3, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez came in P4 late in the session with 1m 24.047s. Yuki Tsunoda continued his good form which landed him P5 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who put quite an impressive performance despite a slow weekend start on Friday.
Pierre Gasly in the second AlphaTauri came in P7 as Carlos Sainz marked the first Ferrari at P8. Daniel Ricciardo was impressive today after finishing P9 for McLaren as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top ten.
2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 Results:
| Pos | No | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:23.274 | 22 | |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1:23.488 | +0.214s | 23 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:24.025 | +0.751s | 21 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1:24.047 | +0.773s | 20 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1:24.106 | +0.832s | 16 |
| 6 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:24.223 | +0.949s | 21 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:24.251 | +0.977s | 22 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:24.595 | +1.321s | 19 |
| 9 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1:24.733 | +1.459s | 15 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:24.758 | +1.484s | 20 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:24.821 | +1.547s | 21 |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1:24.834 | +1.560s | 17 |
| 13 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:25.037 | +1.763s | 22 |
| 14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:25.048 | +1.774s | 17 |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1:25.094 | +1.820s | 19 |
| 16 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:25.115 | +1.841s | 24 |
| 17 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1:25.220 | +1.946s | 21 |
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1:25.322 | +2.048s | 18 |
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:25.340 | +2.066s | 17 |
| 20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | RAF | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:26.332 | +3.058s | 18 |
