Hartley crashes heavily in Barcelona FP3

Hartley was taken to the Circuit de Catalunya medical centre for checks but was passed fit to continue even if his presence in later qualifying looked unlikely due to the extent of the damage.

The rear of his Honda-powered car almost broke away from the rest of the chassis when picked up by a crane to remove it from the barriers.

The accident, right at the end of the session and after Hartley had gone wide onto the grass run-off and lost control at the right-handed turn nine, brought out red flags to halt the action.