Oscar Piastri topped the final practice session for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix with Lando Norris second fastest as McLaren head into qualifying as the team to beat.
Piastri delivered a clear message of intent after going fastest with a 1:12.387, over half a second clear from Norris while Charles Leclerc was third, over three tenths off the pace.
It is worth noting that Norris set his best time on a used set of Soft tyres as he had to abort his first run after a scary snap at Turn 9; so expect him to be closer come qualifying.
Fourth fastest was George Russell in the Mercedes, 0.752s off the pace and 0.226s ahead of reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen who was only fifth and suffering from understeer through the session.
Also worth noting that Verstappen's final time was set on used Soft tyres after Red Bull Racing went for a setup change and sent their driver out on track in the final set to trial it, but the tyres were dead.
Isack Hadjar continued his strong form and was sixth fastest for the Racing Bulls, a bit under one second off the pace and ahead of Kimi Antonello who was seventh fastest in the Mercedes.
Fernando Alonso was the better of the Spanish drivers and was eighth fastest while Carlos Sainz was down in 13th.
Lewis Hamilton still struggled in his Ferrari and ended the session ninth fastest and 1.140s off the pace while Liam Lawson completed the top ten confirming the pace of his VCARB.
Despite McLaren's huge gap, expect rivals - Verstappen in particular - to be closer in qualifying given that many factors affected the times of FP3.
Preparing the tyres will be key and expect several drivers to fall prey to track limits.
Buildup towards FP3
Well anyone who expected the new regulations to change the pecking order instantaneously must have been disappointed as McLaren continued at the top.
Now Red Bull Racing ran them close both in qualifying and race simulations but that is not necessarily down to the rules as the Milton Keynes squad were always expected to do well in Barcelona due to track characteristics favoring their RB21.
The McLaren drivers were careful to point out how fast Verstappen was and Red Bull are known to find gains between Friday and Saturday while also noting that they run lower power unit modes on Friday.
While the Papaya cars held an advantage in race sims, it wasn't huge while the qualifying gap would be slowed when Red Bull turn the wick up and Verstappen does his thing.
Ferrari did not seem in a good place while Mercedes will definitely be limited by the high temperatures despite showing good qualifying pace as their race pace was not as good.
Managing the tyres, especially the front lefts, will be key this weekend both in qualifying and the race despite Pirelli bringing their hardest range this weekend.
FP3 Session Highlights
Track temperatures were slightly lower at the start of FP3 compared to Friday, 44 degrees Celsius while air temperature was 29 degrees as clear conditions prevailed.
It was a slow start to FP3 as it was just Colapinto who joined the track but soon Alonso joined him out on track with the fans applauding their local hero.
The Spaniard peeled back into the pits after a tyre scrubbing lap and switched to Hards to scrub them as well. Stroll did the same.
At the 15-minute mark, more cars made their way out on track as the action ramped up and some timed laps were being posted. The starting tyres were a mix of Mediums and Softs.
With 20 minutes gone, Verstappen made his way out on track with Medium tyres bolted to his RB21. He soon reported: "I have no rear grip."
Piastri soon reported that he had "something hard" on his left leg on the seat and asked the team to check. He duly pitted for that.
The McLaren mechanics scrambled to sort out the problem and Piastri jumped out of the car.
Almost half way into the session and the action remained at a low level as more that half the cars were in the pits.
Lawson, while on a flying lap, had a small snap in Turn 13 and ran a bit wide dipping one wheel in the gravel. He managed to keep going.
As the minutes ticked, the action on track remained scarce but Antonelli then provided something to watch as he ran wide at Turn 10 while on a flying lap. No drama, he kept going.
Then the qualifying runs started. Verstappen started his first qualifying run on Softs and shoots up to the top. He wasn't particularly competitive on the Mediums earlier.
Norris then started his run but then had to bail out taking into the run-off after a snap in Turn 9. He was lucky to keep it together.
His engineer radioed that the team detected porpoising at the corner and suggested a lift of the rear to sort it out.
But then Piastri started his qualifying run and went to the top half a second clear from Norris in second and over seven tenths clear of Leclerc in third - ten minutes from the end.
Sainz then had a moment at Turn 12, running wide on the kerbs and also kicking up some gravel.
Hamilton then complained about the downshifts with his SF-25 saying something was not working.
Spanish GP FP3 Classification
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