Free practice 3 of the Spanish GP concludes the first part of a weekend that promises to be much more interesting than expected. In fact, if on the Catalan circuit we usually see one team dominate, this year there seems to be much more uncertainty. Red Bull and Ferrari they brought important updates to Spain unlike McLaren which brought no news from the Miami GP. Despite this, the Woking team has proven to be already quite complete. Yesterday three teams placed within 55 thousandths of a second. Among these there is also Mercedes, which achieved an excellent performance in Canada also thanks to the characteristics of the track. Talking about a complete recovery of the English team is still difficult, to do so we will first have to wait for qualifying which will start this afternoon at 16pm. Let's see what happened during the last free practice session of the Spanish GP.
What happened on Friday of the Spanish GP
On the first day of free practice in Spain, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren showed very similar performances, with Hamilton, Sainz and Norris within just 55 thousandths. Ferrari, with Sainz in second place, dedicated the day to testing the new package, alternating old and new configurations. Leclerc had more difficulties and sacrificed time in the afternoon to change set-up. Red Bull, with Verstappen, did not dominate as expected. The Austrian team brought updates focusing in particular on cooling system in such a way as to have a compromise between aerodynamic efficiency and heat dissipation. Verstappen during the first day of testing he complained about understeer and instability of the rear axle, but asked for a more powerful rear wing to improve performance. All in all the Dutchman seemed rather calm at the end of the day.
Paddock in chaos due to fire in McLaren hospitality
The third and final free practice session in Spain opens with a small problem for McLaren, but not on the track. In fact, in the morning, an electrical short circuit appears to have triggered a fire in McLaren hospitality. The staff and team were promptly evacuated but some track workers who intervened to put out the fire were apparently intoxicated by the smoke and transported away in an ambulance.
The first part of Free Practice 3 of the Spanish GP
Despite this inconvenience, the activity on the track did not change. At 12 only two drivers took to the track immediately: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Despite the complaints in yesterday's sessions, Verstappen said he was rather calm. However, the urgency of finding the right set up led the Dutchman to make the most of this session. For this occasion, Verstappen's RB30 was fitted with a higher load wing. Max does his first laps on the track on the medium tyres, unlike Hamilton who started on the soft tyres. Different work also for Ferrari which takes to the track with the soft tyres. During yesterday we saw a big difference between Sainz and Leclerc. The first attempt by Sainz and Leclerc ends with the Spaniard and the Monegasque behind George Russell again on the soft tyre. All in all a good time considering the traffic and also the fact that the Pitot tubes are installed on the number 20 car.
Charles said yesterday that he didn't feel good with the car, and the team is using this last session to understand the behavior of the car, especially to compensate for the last sector, where the SF-24 loses the most. After the first 20 minutes, Lando Norris's McLaren is also invited to the party and, with medium tyres, places itself between George Russell and Carlos Sainz. In the meantime Charles Leclerc tells the team that he is decidedly more comfortable than yesterday:“Good job on the car, it's a good step forward”.
The long run simulations, Ferrari good
After the first half hour Max Verstappen chooses to look for references on the long run. Yesterday, due to the numerous set up changes, Red Bull didn't have many references on that front. Verstappen's times in the long run are quite high but the fuel loads are not known. Compared to those who ride with the soft Max he loses more than 1 second. The times between Russell and Hamilton were different, probably with a higher fuel load. Russell runs slower than his teammate, about 1 second and 8 seconds faster. Charles Leclerc's times were excellent on the soft. The Monegasque seems to have definitely put yesterday's problems behind him. McLaren doesn't use simulations as it surprised everyone yesterday with its race pace. A theme for qualifying will above all be the traffic which also characterized Free Practice 3 of the Spanish GP.
Last minutes for the qualifying simulations
Lando Norris's first attempt on the soft tires allows the English driver to take the lead of the group with a comfortable 1:13.043, three tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton in second. However, the first attempt by Fernando Alonso, the home driver who finished in seventh place, was not very encouraging. He does better than Hamilton Russell, one tenth behind Norris. Carlos Sainz is the first to manage to get close to Norris' time so much so that he even does better than the Englishman: 13:013. At 37 and 74 thousandths Leclerc and Verstappen close a very compact top 4. At the end, a bit of traffic confusion led to a post-session investigation for Leclerc and Norris as well as for Stroll and Hamilton for impeding.
Everything is ready now for the qualification which promises to be very interesting given these gaps.
P1 Carlos Sainz 1:13.013
P2 Lando Norris +0.030
P3 Charles Leclerc +0.037
P4 Max Verstappen +0.074
P5 George Russell +0.151
P6 Lewis Hamilton +0.346
P7 Sergio Perez + 0.710
P8 Alexander Albon +0.740
P9 Fernando Alonso + 0.773
P10 Oscar Piastri + 0.894
