Kimi Antonelli was fastest in a disrupted third practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix; the championship leader set a 32.797 to put his Mercedes just over a tenth and a half ahead of Charles Leclerc. Leclerc put himself two hundredths faster than the two McLarens, with Oscar Piastri going almost half a tenth faster than teammate Lando Norris.
George Russell put his Mercedes sixth around a quarter of a second off his teammate and just under three tenths behind Max Verstappen. Russell goes into the final European race needing to turn the tide against Antonelli, who has a sixty-six-point lead.
McLaren look to be quick and in the mix this weekend as the world champion was just over a quarter of a second off the outright pace, despite missing almost all of second practice on Friday
Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth, almost a second and a half off the outright pace after he crashed halfway through the session. He locked up into the final corner, going straight into the Tecpro barriers, which broke his front wing before driving his damaged car for another lap.
Hamilton was on course to set a very quick lap until he braked too late at the last corner and hit the barriers head-on, albeit at a relatively slow speed. He reversed out of the barriers, but the front wing had dislodged itself and got stuck under the front right tyre, so Ferrari urged Hamilton to stop the car.
The barrier repairs that followed took so long that race control decided to stop the clock at 15m38, ensuring that there would still be a reasonable amount of time left for drivers to resume practice.
Verstappen, meanwhile, made a delayed start after only joining the action right before Hamilton’s red flag. He was fifth, three and three-quarters of a tenth off, as Red Bull continued to struggle over the Madring circuit’s kerbs and generally lacked performance compared to its rivals.
Verstappen was four tenths faster than Russell, but the crash by Hamilton forced him to abort what could have been the Mercedes driver’s fastest lap. But the Englishman split the two Red Bull’s as he went four tenths faster than Nico Hulkenberg who showed competitive pace.
However, the German was caught in traffic after setting the fastest first sector, leaving him eighth, three and a half tenths faster than Hamilton, with his teammate Gabriel Bortoletto completing the top ten. Franco Colapinto missed out on the top ten by eight and a hundredths.
Esteban Ocon was half a tenth faster than Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, followed by the Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad, a quarter of a tenth behind, as he went six hundredths faster than teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Pierre Gasly put himself four tenths behind his former teammate.
Carlos Sainz put himself eighteenth, just under four and a half tenths behind fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso, after avoiding head-on contact with the barrier at Turn Seven, with Williams teammate Alex Albon earlier glancing the wall on the exit of Turn Twenty and breaking a rear track rod.
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll will start the race from the back after exceeding his permitted number of engine parts for the season by taking a new engine. Stroll was almost eight and three-quarters of a tenth faster than Sergio Perez, the Mexican just under a quarter of a tenth ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The session ended early for Williams man Alex Albon, who tapped the wall at the start of the session and disappeared into the garage for suspension repairs
