Spaniard Carlos Sainz is the quickest in the final practice session ahead of Spanish GP qualifying. His time of 1:13.013 was just 43 hundred of a second faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris in second and Charles Leclerc in third. The gap between the first three stood at only 0.037 seconds.
Last tweaks for cars and drivers before qualifying
The final practice session started with a clean and sunny sky contrary to the expected rainfall for the Grand Prix itself.
FP2 leader Lewis Hamilton is the first out on track and sets a clean flying lap to position himself first.
With not much action in the first 10 minutes of the third practice session, Verstappen goes second by being half of tenth behind Hamilton.
Hamilton’s lap was set on a softer tire compound.
Aston Martin’s abysmal weekend continues as their second driver, Lance Stroll complains about physical issues within the car.
Can you get me a knee pad prepared for the next run? I have some knee pain
Lance Stroll asks his racing engineer for help
Meanwhile, Hamilton is pushed down to fourth by a few drivers. His teammate tops the provisional table ahead of Sainz and Leclerc in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Lance Stroll is not the only driver who complains about the knee’s position within the cockpit. Mercedes’ George Russell also reported a request for a knee foam during the next pitlane entry.
Track and weather condition makes this practice session less eventful. Track temperature stands at 43 degrees while air temperature has just clocked a 27 degrees.
The qualifying session is set to stand in the same conditions so drivers are free to push the remaining sets of dry tires.
Quick impression as Spanish GP FP3 unfolds
Mercedes looks like a car to beat with both their drivers comfortably sitting in either FP2 or FP3 session. Mercedes’ upgrades seem to work magnificently as the summer leg commences.
McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull are slightly behind and although their chances are listed in this order, it is still anyone’s ‘game’ with the way differences between the teams are small.
5th fastest team overall, Aston Martin is about to suffer another horrid weekend with Alonso himself admitting that upgrades have downgraded the car for the second consecutive season.
The last third of the practice is expecting ‘qualy sim’ laps
Times have started to tumble down with Albon pulling the trigger first and shooting himself up to 5th place.
Gusts of wind have picked up and Norris’ out-lap has been compromised in the high-speed section between corners 7 and 9
This did not stop Norris as McLaren’s hopeful banked on a stunner of a lap to get a 4-tenths over Russell.
Hamilton goes second fastest but just barely ahead of his teammate.
A bizarre incident happened between Hamilton and Stroll in turn 5 with 10 minutes to go.
Briton was in the cool lap and lack of concentration has made Hamilton slightly turn into the right side-pod of Aston Martin’s driver. Both drivers escaped from any damage to their cars.
My bad, I didn’t see him.
Lewis Hamilton on a team radio after a slow speed contact with Aston Martin.
Times are tumbling down with just 6 minutes to go. Drivers are now definitely exploring all possible limits of the track in preparation for the qualifying session.
Sainz goes quickest, whilst FP3-invisible Verstappen carries the Red Bull to 4th.
Curiosity is still in the air for the real pace of Mercedes drivers who are seeking to escape 5th and 6th.
Drivers did not improve on Carlos Sainz’s lap time due to Norris obstructing Leclerc which due to increased tire temperature made it harder for the drivers to improve.
In the end, Max Verstappen’s racing engineer noted an important piece of advice to his ‘partner’.
As the drivers went on to do a practice race start Gianpiero Lambiase noted.
This could probably be the most relevant launch of the weekend Max, so make us of it.
Max Verstappen’s racing engineer advised Max Verstappen for a potential race deciding move
Whether Red Bull is unsure of their race pace and new upgrade package for Sunday is yet to be known.