The Ferrari driver Leclerc was the fastest, but Max Verstappen and the duo of Mercedes George Russell and Lewis Hamilton also showed pace before qualifying, finishing in the top four; watch the qualifications for the Spanish Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from 2.20 pm (starting at 3.00 pm)
Last updated: 21/05/22 14:02
Charles Leclerc again determined the fastest time in Saturday’s practice before qualifying
Charles Löckler set the pace again in the last training session for the Spanish Grand Prix, but the leader in the championship had hot Red Bull and Mercedes in line.
Leclerc made the fastest lap of 1: 19,772 in the third practice, with title contender Max Verstappen less than a tenth of a second behind him heading to Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session.
Meanwhile, the duo of Mercedes George Russell and Lewis Hamilton showed the continuous improvement of their car over the weekend, determining the third and fourth fastest time, respectively.
Ferrari started the session where they stopped on Friday, as Sainz and then Leclerc immediately determined the fastest times of P3 until the moment when they came out on the track after a quarter of an hour.
In fact, the leader in the championship Leclerc will remain there until the end of the session, although Verstappen showed that Red Bull will again push the Italian brand strongly when the qualification starts at 15:00.
Perhaps most eye-catching, however, was Mercedes’ ongoing improvement, and it was Russell who was again their leading light moment, scoring the best time, which was just 0.148 seconds behind Leclerc’s benchmark for the session.
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Mick Schumacher’s rear brake caught fire in the P3, with his Haas mechanics having to turn it off in the Circuit de Catalunya pitlane
Mick Schumacher’s rear brake caught fire in the P3, with his Haas mechanics having to turn it off in the Circuit de Catalunya pitlane
Hamilton, who had to take his first lap of the session to fix a minor DRS problem in his car, made sure he was within contact of the top three with the best lap, which was just over two-tenths of a second of the pace .
Russell and Hamilton performed well enough to finish ahead of Sainz of Ferrari and Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Lando Norris finished seventh for McLaren and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 11th, while Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Valteri Botas (Alfa Romeo) showed encouragement for their respective teams, securing the top 10 places with Esteban Okon of Alpine.
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Pierre Gasley saw a lot of smoke coming out from under the hood of his AlphaTauri in the early stages of the final workout
Pierre Gasley saw a lot of smoke coming out from under the hood of his AlphaTauri in the early stages of the final workout
Elsewhere, there was drama for Pierre Gasly, as damage to the heat shield caused his Alpha Tauri’s engine to overheat while he was still in his pits, leaving him unable to set a time during the session.
He is expected to start qualifying, while Haas is optimistic about the participation of Mick Schumacher, after the rear right brake of his car caught fire and left him to undergo a preventive change of gearbox.
Spanish GP practice 3 timesheet
Driver’s time 1) Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1: 19.772 2) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.072 3) George Russell Mercedes +0.148 4) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.230 5) Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.357 6) Sergio Peres. Lando Norris McLaren +0.631 8) Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.847 9) Valteri Botas Alpha Romeo +1.009 10) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.110 11) Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.138 12) A Sebastian Martin 1 +13 l.) Zhouo Guanyu Alf 1,429 10) Yuki Tsunoda Alpha Tauri +1,677 12) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1,748 17) Alexander Albon Williams +1,800 18) Nicholas Latifi Williams +2,647 19) Mick Latifi Williams +2,647 19) Mick Ta Schumacher Ha. There is no time …
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