2024 Spanish GP FP3: Sainz Ahead of Norris and Lelerc

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz led the pack in the third and final practice session of the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, closely followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and his teammate Charles Leclerc.

The session began at 12:30 local time on Saturday, following an intensely competitive FP2 in which drivers from five different teams claimed the top five spots. This heightened the stakes for the final practice, especially given that 30 out of the 33 Grand Prix races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya since 1991 have been won from the front row.

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During the session, drivers used all three of Pirelli’s tyre compounds. Early on, Mercedes’ George Russell set a preliminary fast time of 1m 13.431s on soft tyres. However, as drivers switched to soft tyres for their qualifying simulations, Sainz claimed the top time with a 1m 13.013s, narrowly beating Norris by just 0.03 seconds and Leclerc by 0.037 seconds.

Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, finished fourth with a time of 1m 13.087s, while Russell, despite initially leading, fell to fifth, keeping the top five within a tenth of a second of each other.

Lewis Hamilton encountered a minor incident with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, making contact at Turn 5, which Hamilton acknowledged as his oversight.

Post-session, there was some tension as cars headed back to the pits, including an incident involving Leclerc and Norris, with Norris expressing concern over potential damage to his car.

Amid this drama, Sergio Perez, who faces a three-place grid penalty, ended up seventh. Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso showed improvement, securing spots in the top 10 for Williams and Aston Martin, respectively.

Oscar Piastri, Norris’s teammate, rounded out the top ten, with the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly falling to the 11th and 12th spots. The rest of the field saw a mix of performances, with Haas, Kick Sauber, and RB continuing to adjust to updates and positional shifts within the grid.

Spanish GP FP3 Results

2024 Spanish Grand Prix FP3, 22 June 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:13.013		19
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:13.043	+0.030s	14
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:13.050	+0.037s	18
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:13.087	+0.074s	24
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:13.164	+0.151s	20
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:13.359	+0.346s	26
7	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:13.723	+0.710s	19
8	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:13.753	+0.740s	14
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:13.786	+0.773s	21
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:13.907	+0.894s	14
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:13.950	+0.937s	18
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:13.964	+0.951s	14
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:13.975	+0.962s	20
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:14.024	+1.011s	19
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:14.074	+1.061s	27
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	1:14.161	+1.148s	17
17	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:14.254	+1.241s	16
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:14.420	+1.407s	22
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:14.572	+1.559s	17
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	1:14.729	+1.716s	12

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.