The final day of the Diriyah double header began with the final, third practise session of the weekend. It’s a cooler day in the Saudi Arabian desert compared to yesterday, and all drivers immediately came out on track to assess the different climate conditions in the 30 minutes session.
After the first set of attempts, Fenestraz leads from Buemi and De Vries. The Jaguar duo, coming off a very strong performance in the first race of the week, also popped up at the top, with yesterday’s FP2 leader Oliver Rowland returning in P1 with a 1:12.500s, followed by his teammate Fenestraz and Evans.
Ten minutes in the session, yesterday’s polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne has cycled in the lead, replaced shortly after by Rowland and then Nato.
The French DS driver is also the first driver to lap in the 1:11s, as the times are getting closer and closer to last years’ and are already a second faster compared to the best lap of last night’s race.
At the halfway point in the session Envision’s Frijns leads from R2 winner Jake Dennis and Vergne. After a positive podium in Mexico City, it had been a tough first Diriyah approach for the new pair of Envision teammates, but Frijns and Buemi have another chance today to make up for it, with the Swiss driver taking the lead ahead of the Dutchman.
ERT’s Dan Ticktum ran wide at Turn 18, in what has been the most popular track spot for mistakes so far, due to an electrical issue on his car. The British driver is also suffering from braking problems.
With ten minutes to go, drivers began to focus on Duels simulations in order to prepare for qualifying.
Maserati’s Gunther holds the best provisional time with a 1:10.490s, followed by two times on the podium in 2024 so far Nick Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne. His DS Penske teammate claims back the P1 with yet another lap in the lower 1:10s.
Evans appears to have solved the mechanical issue he had mentioned both earlier in the session and in his previous outings of the season as well, as the Kiwi driver signs the fastest lap in 1:10.154s
Stoffel Vandoorne is investigated for speeding in the pit lane, for what has been so far a pretty tame weekend in terms of penalties.
Just like it had happened yesterday, Frijns ran wide at Turn 18, issuing a brief yellow flag. In the final moments of the session, no one was able to match the impressive speed shown earlier by Evans, leaving the Jaguar driver to claim the first P1 of the day.
