Kimi Antonelli went fastest in FP3 at the Spanish Grand Prix, a session disrupted by two red flag stoppages.
It took an order from the FIA race director to make Lewis Hamilton finally stop his Ferrari after a crash. Oliver Bearman found the wall late on. The ultimate pace was set by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli ahead of qualifying.
Spanish GP FP3: Antonelli P1, Hamilton crashes
After a Friday of severe tyre degradation and increasing pace, as drivers explored their new playground, FP3 represented the final chance to fine tune those Madring preparations ahead of qualifying and the race.
It was a slow start to the session. Gabriel Bortoleto was first out in his Audi, with five minutes having ticked by. He had the track to himself briefly, before Nico Hulkenberg in the sister Audi also emerged.
A 1:35.721 from Hulkenberg, on mediums, set the early pace.
As the track action, slowly, began to ramp up, Alex Albon clonked the inside wall into Turn 21. He returned to the Williams garage, and exited the car. It proved to be terminal damage in terms of this session for Albon.
Carlos Sainz, in the sister Williams, was somehow able to stop in time just before the T7 wall after a big lock-up.
With a quarter of FP3 complete, the big hitters were now making a mark with the soft tyres.
The opening battle was comfortably won by Kimi Antonelli and his 1:33.664. He was over four tenths clear of Lando Norris.
Charles Leclerc soon responded, on his second lap on the softs, going three tenths clear of Antonelli. Lance Stroll required the escape road at Turn 20.
Red flag! Hamilton locked-up and was in the wall at the final corner. He kept the engine going, reversed out, and drove on, but with the front wing under the car and front-right tyre smoking.
Hamilton was quickly ordered to stop the car by race engineer Carlo Santi, but carried on driving.
Driving a car in an unsafe condition carries a risk of penalties.
Hamilton was told four times in total by Santi to stop the car. Only when he was told that it was a formal request from the FIA race director, did Hamilton park his Ferrari at the side of the track.
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The clock had been ticking down amid this red flag delay, as barrier repairs continued.
But, with 15 minutes and 30 seconds left, the FIA temporarily stopped the session to conserve that time.
Safe to say that it was a busier scene in the pit lane this time around when the track went green, with the barrier repairs complete.
The delay allowed Racing Bulls to get Arvid Lindblad out on track for the restart, following the rebuild after his FP2 shunt.
Leclerc quickly found another three and a half tenths, as Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen moved into the top three.
Antonelli pushed his way in between Leclerc and Piastri, three tenths off the pace.
He soon went P1, increasing the pace to a 1:32.797 in the frantic closing stages of FP3.
The session was red flagged again with just under a minute left, and that was FP3 over. Beaman was in the wall hard at Turn 11. He was fine, thankfully, but the Haas was a crumpled mess ahead of qualifying.
Antonelli topped FP3 from Leclerc and Piastri, the trio covered by less than two tenths.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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