At the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Charles Leclerc was the fastest driver after the third free practice session for the F1 Grand Prix of Spain.
The Monegask was slightly faster in his time of 1:19.772 compared to Max Verstappen, who was only 0.072 seconds short of his rival. Behind the Dutchman, George Russell drove well to third time
The Spanish tarmac was released for the final practice session of the F1 weekend in which Lando Norris appeared first on the track. The McLaren driver set the first time on the board in 1:23.641. A heavily smoking Alpha Tauri driven by Pierre Gasly who was about to start his program could immediately go back into the garage. This at a time when it slowly became busier on the circuit.
At the end of the first 10 minutes, the name of Alfa Romeo was behind driver Valtteri Bottas. The Finn was 1.5 seconds faster than Kevin Magnussen’s Haas in 1:21.326, the fastest man of the moment. Norris followed in P3 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda while Mick Schumacher rounded out the top 5. Schumacher had a technical problem with his rear brake and had to go to his team’s pit box. At that moment Fernando Alonso was second fastest.
Carlos Sainz brought the crowd to the benches in the 17-minute session as the Spaniard set the fastest time in 1:20.484. Charles Leclerc trumped his teammate by shaving off 2 tenths and took over P1 from Sainz. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon had moved up to P4 behind Bottas. However, both drivers dropped one place because George Russell ended up in P3. His teammate Lewis Hamilton drove to P6 behind Ocon.
We had to wait for Max Verstappen who had not yet been in action. Besides the Dutchman, Pierre Gasly also had no time due to his technical problems. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, drove to P3 at the start of the second half in the practice session. However, Verstappen had started his training and the Limburger closed behind Leclerc at the expense of Sainz.
Kevin Magnussen put in a fast lap in the Haas, the Dane moved up to P5 and closed in behind Perez. A lap later Sainz improved and took over P2 from Verstappen. Charles Leclerc in turn also improved to 1:19.772. The clock had passed the final 20 minutes when George Russell made a big improvement, the Briton driving to P2 ahead of Sainz in 1:19,920.
The last fifteen minutes had arrived as the Red Bull team prepared for a qualifying simulation. Max Verstappen drove a fast lap and placed in P2 while both Mercedes cars also set fast times. Russell closed in on P3 with Lewis Hamilton driving the seven-time world champion to 1:20.002 behind him.
The third free practice came to an end and Charles Leclerc was ready for qualifying later in the day with the fastest time to his name in 1.19.772. Max Verstappen had set the second fastest time while George Russell rounded out the top 3.
Results third free practice Grand Prix Spain 2022