Carlos Sainz is in top form at his home race: In the third free practice session, the Ferrari driver set the fastest time of 1:13.013 minutes on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catlunya. As on Friday, the top teams at the front of the field were only a few thousandths apart. Unsportsmanlike actions by Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc and a fire that broke out in the McLaren hospitality area before the session caused a great deal of excitement.
Although the fire brigade was still busy extinguishing the fire at McLaren and the paddock had to be partially cordoned off, the training session was released on time. The McLaren drivers, who had previously had to be evacuated from their driver’s cabs, were also able to take part in the training.
The result: As usual, all drivers were preparing for qualifying on the soft tyres. Carlos Sainz was 0.030 seconds faster than McLaren driver Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc was another seven thousandths of a second behind in the second Ferrari. Max Verstappen in fourth place was also less than a tenth of a second behind the best time.
The Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were behind. While Russell was only 1.5 tenths behind, Hamilton had to let up a little, losing a good three tenths of a second. Sergio Perez was seventh, Alexander Albon, Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri completed the top 10. Nico Hülkenberg finished the training in 13th place.
The incidents: The stewards had to deal with a strange scene between practice and qualifying. Around ten minutes before the end of the session, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll clashed. The Formula 1 record winner had not seen the Canadian in his rear-view mirror and therefore did not make way in time.
Stroll, however, was apparently going for revenge: When Hamilton drove far to the outside in turn five to let Stroll pass, the Aston Martin driver simply allowed himself to be carried to the outside. So far that there was even a slight touch. Hamilton had already apologized on the radio: “Sorry, I didn’t see him, my mistake.” Stroll, on the other hand, raged: “This *** guy thinks he’s alone on the track.” There could be consequences for both drivers.
At the end of the session, Charles Leclerc’s emotions were running high: Because he was hampered on his last attempt, he attempted a revenge foul against Lando Norris. Leclerc then drove completely unnecessarily in front of the Brit’s car. “I think I’ve got damage,” reported Norris. The stewards will also investigate this case after training.
The weather: Better than expected. The meteorologists had predicted cooler conditions for Saturday. With 26 degrees in the air and 45 degrees on the asphalt, the conditions were very similar to Friday’s training. Slightly lower temperatures are again predicted for today’s qualifying at 4 p.m.