F1 Spanish GP live commentary and updates - FP3
Updates from the Spanish Grand Prix's third Formula 1 practice session
Live Commentary
By: Edward Hardy, Haydn Cobb
That's us now done for FP3. We will return for qualifying, which is at 3pm BST!
It's now time for the customary practice starts with cars shooting out of a grid box one at a time.
Yep, and they aren't! That means Piastri heads a dominant McLaren 1-2 in FP3 with Leclerc, Russell and Verstappen respectively completing the top five.
The papaya squad is looking strong - surely it's a Piastri vs Norris shootout for pole...
The clock has now hit 0:00 and it doesn't seem as though anybody is on a flying lap
Lawson is the final driver to set a lap time on soft rubber and the Racing Bulls rookie goes 10th - team-mate Hadjar is sixth.
Now the lap times are coming and Verstappen has dropped to fourth with Piastri, Norris and Leclerc all going quicker on soft tyres.
Quite some margin, too, with Verstappen about a second off leader Piastri and 0.5s behind Norris. Quite the statement from McLaren.
One of those cars though is the reigning world champion and Verstappen has just gone fastest on the soft tyre with a 1m13.375s - 0.021s quicker than Russell.
JBL did warn us in last night's Friday analysis that Verstappen was the fastest driver on softs this weekend...
There are now 17 minutes left and teams are still in no rush to leave their garage, with only eight cars currently on track.
There are now 25 minutes left in this session, yet over half the grid are still in their garages. When will we see teams finally deliver quali runs?
Russell takes over at the top with a 1m13.396s on the softs, as Norris takes up second place on the times with a better lap on the mediums, nearly half a second back. Piastri is jumping out of his McLaren as his mechanics investigate that seat issue he flagged earlier.
"I have something hard on my left leg on my seat, if we can just check that," Piastri radios before pitting.
Leclerc ups the pace with a 1m13.941s on the softs, as Ferrari team-mate Hamilton slots into second 0.121s on the mediums. Both McLarens are out on mediums but not producing lap times to worry the rest, yet.
Everyone has clearly got bored of hanging around and looking cool in the pitlane, as the track is getting busy now. Sainz leads the first serious lap time efforts with a 1m14.124s on the softs.
The crowd on the grass bank had obviously been wondering why they’d made the effort to come in early, because it had all gone a bit quiet. But now a ripple of applause greets the arrival of actual cars on track, even if they are only on installation laps.
Cars on track
Ocon, Gasly, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda all venture out in a neat quartet. Still no serious lap times to talk of, as everyone waits around.
I wonder what the story is behind this one? Did this fan get Esteban Ocon's signature as a tattoo? Or a picture of Ocon that he signed? We must know!
Fans
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
Alonso completes a tyre prep lap, as is customary for the Aston Martin drivers to do at the start of FP3, while Stroll and Bortoleto join the action. No movement from anyone else so far.
Home hero Alonso is next out on the track and gets a huge cheer from the fans lining the track as expected. The Aston Martin driver is out on fresh mediums and taking it very slowly on his out-lap, giving him a good chance to soak in the support from the crowd.
Colapinto on track early
Colapinto has decided to nip out to explore the Barcelona track solo in his Alpine, as everyone else sits comfortably in their garages.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
FP3 is go
Ordinarily the start to FP3 on a normal race weekend is a slow affair as teams look to manage their tyre use, and nobody looks too desperate to get out on track for the very start of the session.
Friday recap
With track action starting in just under 10 minutes, there is just enough time to wrap up what happened on Friday: McLaren topped both sessions, Norris taking the honour in FP1 before Piastri took that role for FP2, and it appears the flexi-wing clampdown hasn't slowed down the Woking team too much.
Good morning and welcome to live coverage of final practice for the Spanish GP! The fans are out in force for what should be an intriguing day of action.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
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