F1 Spanish GP: Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris as…

Oscar Piastri has handed McLaren a clean sweep of Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix practice by comfortably topping FP3 in Barcelona.

Saturday's final practice session got off to a sluggish start, with little meaningful running early on in the searing midday heat.

Carlos Sainz drew applause from his Spanish fans as he led the early running aboard the Williams, which hadn't looked at its very best on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday.

Sainz was soon demoted by Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with the former leading the way by courtesy of a 1m13.941s lap on soft tyres.

After 23 minutes Mercedes' George Russell banked a 1m13.396s which has four tenths quicker than Leclerc or indeed anyone else, as team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli didn't get much closer than Leclerc on his soft-shod attempt.

Approach the final third of the session Max Verstappen fired up his Red Bull to pip Russell by 0.021s, with a 1m13.375s lap on softs.

Verstappen particularly impressed through Barcelona's final sector, which was restored in its former glory a few years ago and features two extremely fast right-hand corners that suit the Reb Bull RB21.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images)

Norris' reply was not forthcoming as the Briton had to bail out of his lap after a big moment into the high-speed Turn 9 right-hander, taking to the unused chicane that serves as a runoff area.

His race engineer informed the Briton that the McLaren suffered from porpoising, the dreaded bouncing phenomenon that proved problematic as the current rules were introduced in 2022.

Norris' next effort did prove to be enough to depose Russell - with a 1m12.913s - but team-mate Oscar Piastri proved much more hooked up. The Australian championship leader fired in a 1m12.387s lap inside the final 10 minutes to comfortably take top spot until the end.

Norris followed half a second behind on a used set of softs as McLaren once again made it a clean sweep of all three practice sessions, with Norris leading FP1 and Piastri topping FP2.

Leclerc jumped to third, a massive seven tenths behind, ahead of Russell and Verstappen, who didn't push for a late improvement.

Like yesterday, Isack Hadjar was best of the rest again by taking sixth in the Racing Bulls car, ahead of Antonelli. Fernando Alonso also continued Friday's positive trajectory aboard the improved Aston Martin by taking eighth.

Hamilton was a more muted ninth as he struggled to replicate Leclerc's lap times and reported a late gear shift issue, the seven-time world champion 1.1s behind Piastri, while the second RB of Liam Lawson completed the top 10.

In an otherwise uneventful session, Williams driver Alex Albon was limited to just five laps, with his squad investigating an issue with the master cylinder and braking system in his car, according to team boss James Vowles.

F1 Spanish GP - FP3 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	14	1'12.387		S	231.605
2	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	18	+0.526 1'12.913	0.526	S	229.934
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	17	+0.743 1'13.130	0.217	S	229.252
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	18	+0.752 1'13.139	0.009	S	229.223
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	14	+0.988 1'13.375	0.236	S	228.486
6	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	17	+0.995 1'13.382	0.007	S	228.464
7	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	12	+1.018 1'13.405	0.023	S	228.393
8	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	17	+1.027 1'13.414	0.009	S	228.365
9	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	17	+1.140 1'13.527	0.113	S	228.014
10	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Honda	18	+1.250 1'13.637	0.110	S	227.673
11	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	Sauber	Ferrari	19	+1.335 1'13.722	0.085	S	227.411
12	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	Sauber	Ferrari	18	+1.346 1'13.733	0.011	S	227.377
13	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	16	+1.371 1'13.758	0.025	S	227.300
14	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	Red Bull	Red Bull	13	+1.505 1'13.892	0.134	S	226.887
15	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	20	+1.517 1'13.904	0.012	S	226.851
16	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	20	+1.567 1'13.954	0.050	S	226.697
17	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Renault	23	+1.698 1'14.085	0.131	S	226.296
18	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	14	+1.751 1'14.138	0.053	S	226.135
19	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	5	+1.902 1'14.289	0.151	S	225.675
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	12	+2.073 1'14.460	0.171	S	225.157
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