Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen leads Hamilton, the Ferraris are in ambush

Verstappen dominated the last free practice session with a great lap in 1:17.835 ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc and Sainz. Nice session for Räikkönen who took the fastest time in the first sector and is in the top 10.

Under a beautiful Catalan sun, the last free practice session began. Alone on the track, Alonso is the first to set a time during the first 10 minutes in 1:21.020 on medium tires, which he then improves to 1:20.689.

After a short quarter of an hour, about ten drivers took to the track. Giovinazzi tested the limits of the track with slight excursions into the gravel. Traffic is increasing on the track and setting a lap time is becoming more and more complicated, a taste of what the qualifying session will be like.

Ferrari are on form at the circuit with Sainz in 5th place with a time of 1:19.789 and Leclerc setting the fastest time with 1:18.997 with 40 minutes left in this session. Surprisingly, Giovinazzi is in second place with 1:19.368 ahead of Perez and Räikkönen. Ferrari and Alfa Romeo are on soft tires while the only Red Bull by Perez is on mediums. Neither Mercedes nor Verstappen have set a lap time at this point.

The arrival of the top dogs was felt. Hamilton’s best time is 1:18.304 ahead of his teammate on soft tires. Verstappen is three tenths behind on medium tires. The two Ferraris follow and are the only two cars to be less than a second behind Hamilton.

At the midway point, Hamilton is leading ahead of Bottas, Verstappen, and the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. They are followed by a surprising Giovinazzi, Gasly, Perez, and Russell in the top 10.

Disappointment for McLaren, who are only in 11th and 14th place, Alpines in 12th and 19th for Alonso, while the Aston Martin of Stroll and Vettel are in 15th and 16th place, but these teams have not used soft tires.

The gaps are impressive, Giovinazzi in 5th is +1.2s, there is a huge gap between 3 teams and the rest of the field.

The end of the session was animated by Räikkönen and Norris. The Finnish driver, leading in the first sector, ran over debris at the entry of turn 8. His shredded tire forced him to return to the pits. Norris went wide at turn 10, like Kubica did yesterday, but kept enough speed to exit the gravel trap.

All drivers finished on soft tires. Verstappen took the lead over Hamilton by setting a lap time of 1:17.835. The McLarens have moved up into the top 10 thanks to the tire change. The Ferraris did not use medium tires during this session.

Ranking at the end of the session: