Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Leclerc unreachable!
Charles Leclerc remained at the top of the time sheet throughout the session. The Monegasque was never worried by his teammate, the Red Bulls, or even the two Mercedes.
Lando Norris’s McLaren was the first car to hit the track during Free Practice 3. The British driver was using a new floor after damaging his previous one during a wide off-track excursion at turn number 9 in Free Practice 2.
Pierre Gasly, on the other hand, didn’t even have time to leave the pit lane when a lot of smoke started coming out of his AlphaTauri. Already yesterday, the Frenchman had been unable to drive due to problems with the steering. Mick Schumacher also saw his session go up in smoke due to a significant brake issue.
After 20 minutes of session, it was the two Ferraris that dominated the timesheet in favor of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver had set a time of 1’20’278. Carlos Sainz was two tenths behind his garage neighbor. Ferrari’s rivals, Red Bull, were sandwiched between the two red cars after 30 minutes of the session. Max Verstappen placed second, less than a tenth behind Leclerc. Sergio Perez was only 63 milliseconds behind Carlos Sainz in fourth position.
George Russell was very impressive by placing his Mercedes in second position, just one tenth behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari with 20 minutes remaining. While the new driver in Brackley seemed to be able to make the improvements made by Mercedes work, that wasn’t necessarily the case for Lewis Hamilton, who was one second behind his garage neighbor, ranking 8th in the time sheet.
The two rivals for the title in 2021, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, woke up with 10 minutes of the session remaining. The Dutchman placed his Red Bull in second place, only 72 milliseconds behind Leclerc. The Briton climbed back up to fourth place, less than a tenth behind his teammate Russell. This confirmed the effective improvements made to the silver arrows.
For the third time this weekend, Charles Leclerc finishes a practice session at the top of the time sheet. But the Red Bulls and the Mercedes are close enough to the Monegasque to offer us an exciting battle for pole position.
FP3 table:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’19’772 | 22 | |
| 2 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1’19’844 | +0.072 | 11 |
| 3 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’19’920 | +0.148 | 15 |
| 4 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’20’002 | +0.230 | 15 |
| 5 | Sainz Jr. | Scuderia Ferrari | 1’20’129 | +0.357 | 22 |
| 6 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1’20’260 | +0.488 | 18 |
| 7 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1’20’403 | +0.631 | 17 |
| 8 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1’20’646 | +0.874 | 20 |
| 9 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’20’781 | +1.009 | 23 |
| 10 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1’20’882 | +1.110 | 17 |
| 11 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1’20’910 | +1.138 | 16 |
| 12 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’20’944 | +1.172 | 23 |
| 13 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1’20’981 | +1.209 | 16 |
| 14 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1’21’201 | +1.429 | 18 |
| 15 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1’21’449 | +1.677 | 21 |
| 16 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1’21’520 | +1.748 | 22 |
| 17 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1’21’572 | +1.800 | 17 |
| 18 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1’22’417 | +2.645 | 17 |
| 19 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1’25’467 | +5.695 | 4 |
| 20 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1 |
