Oscar Piastri set a remarkable lap time to secure the top spot in the final practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
Piastri was half a second quicker than Norris, demonstrating that McLaren appears unaffected by the FIA`s recent technical directive regarding flexible wings, which some anticipated would alter the competitive landscape.
Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc finished the session in third place, 0.743 seconds behind Piastri`s leading time.
Lando Norris had an off-track moment during his first quick lap attempt on soft tyres at the high-speed Turn 9, meaning his fastest time was set on slightly older rubber. Despite this, Piastri looks exceptionally strong heading into qualifying.
Commenting on McLaren`s performance, 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg was highly impressed: “We don`t need to consider the caveats – that was a monumental performance from McLaren. Absolutely shocking to us, we did not expect them to be that fast. Seriously impressive.”
Rosberg added that the McLaren car looked incredibly planted on track: “It kind of reminded me a bit of my Mercedes days around here, just a different category. The car is on rails out there and Oscar delivered another perfect lap. That was a big warning to the opposition.”
George Russell of Mercedes, who led the timesheets after the initial runs, finished the session in fourth. Max Verstappen seemed dissatisfied with his Red Bull car and ended up in fifth place, nearly a second adrift of Piastri`s pace.
Verstappen has won the last three races held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but based on this practice session, he faces a significant challenge in qualifying.
The Racing Bulls pairing of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson secured sixth and tenth positions respectively. Lewis Hamilton finished ninth. Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli was seventh, just ahead of local favourite Fernando Alonso in eighth.
Elsewhere, Alex Albon of Williams encountered a reliability issue, which meant he spent the latter part of the session in the garage. Similar to Friday, the session passed without any major incidents.
Spanish GP Practice Three Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:12.387 |
| 2) Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.526 |
| 3) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.743 |
| 4) George Russell | Mercedes | +0.752 |
| 5) Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.988 |
| 6) Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.995 |
| 7 Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +1.018 |
| 8) Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.027 |
| 9) Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +1.140 |
| 10) Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.250 |
| 11) Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | +1.335 |
| 12) Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | +1.346 |
| 13) Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1.371 |
| 14) Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +1.505 |
| 15) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.517 |
| 16) Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.567 |
| 17) Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1.698 |
| 18) Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1.751 |
| 19) Alex Albon | Williams | +1.902 |
| 20) Oliver Bearman | Haas | +2.073 |
Spanish GP Schedule
Saturday May 31
2.10pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: SPANISH GP QUALIFYING
Sunday June 1
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Spanish GP build-up
2pm: The SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction
Marcus Prine