https://www.techradar.com/news/heres-why-the-google-pixel-3-doesnt-have-a-notch

Mere hours after we were first officially introduced to the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, a Google representative has confirmed that the company originally wanted to include a notch on the smaller phone but it couldn't for the final release.

Speaking to Android Central's Daniel Bader, a Google representative confirmed that if the company had been able to put a notch in the smaller phone there would have been one. The representative revealed that Google couldn't fit it in.