Formula 1 Spanish GP
F1 Spanish GP: Verstappen quickest again in rain-hit final practice
Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to the fastest time in a dry opening salvo of a rain-hit final practice for Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix.
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Jun 3, 2023, 1:35 PM
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Teams were braced for inclement weather, with thunderstorms fast approaching Barcelona from the Pyrenees in the north.
The session started on dry-weather tyres, but spots of rain were soon reported around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
That completely disturbed the teams' usual run programmes in FP3, with all drivers rushing out of the pits at the drop of the green flag to get some precious dry running in.
Most drivers went straight to a single-lap timed run to prepare for qualifying, with Red Bull's Verstappen's 1.13.664s leading team-mate Perez by 0.250s and Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell slotting in behind them.
Home heroes Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso soon split the Mercedes drivers, taking fourth and fifth respectively.
The predicted rain showers duly arrived at the 10-minute mark, hitting the restored final sector first.
Williams' Logan Sargeant appeared to be caught out by moisture in the now ultra-fast final righter-hander, initially correcting a slide but then veering off into the gravel.
Sargeant got away with minimal left-hand side damage as he gently tapped the wall, but as the rain intensified the red flag put paid to any more improvements.
After a nine-minute delay, the session was green-flagged again, but it took until past the half-hour mark for drivers to sporadically venture out on a damp track.
McLaren's Lando Norris took on the task of conducting a reconnaissance lap on the intermediates to check out the conditions, while the rain appeared to ease off.
With 22 minutes to go, most other drivers followed Norris' example as any intermediate running could prove of great value for Saturday afternoon's qualifying and for Sunday's grand prix, with more potential rain on the way.
In the final minutes, Lance Stroll made an excursion through the gravel at Turn 6 on intermediates and Pierre Gasly slid off at Turn 7.
Meanwhile, several others returned to Pirelli's soft slicks, getting close to dry weather times in the end.
Despite the first two sectors drying up, Verstappen's time at the top was never in doubt, heading Perez, Hamilton, Sainz and Alonso.
Russell was sixth ahead of Leclerc, with Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, AlphaTauri man Yuki Tsunoda and Norris rounding out the top 10 after single hot laps in the dry.
Zhou was 11th for Alfa Romeo, followed by Nyck de Vries, Aston Martin's Stroll and the first Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in 14th.
Oscar Piastri was 15th for McLaren ahead of Esteban Ocon in the first of the Alpines. He headed and Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly as Williams duo Alex Albon and Sargeant propped up the timesheets.
Cla Driver Chassis Engine Laps Time Gap 1 Max Verstappen
Red Bull Red Bull 14 1'13.664 2 Sergio Perez
Red Bull Red Bull 14 1'13.914 0.250 3 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes Mercedes 9 1'14.072 0.408 4 Carlos Sainz
Ferrari Ferrari 20 1'14.240 0.576 5 Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin Mercedes 14 1'14.264 0.600 6 George Russell
Mercedes Mercedes 16 1'14.278 0.614 7 Charles Leclerc
Ferrari Ferrari 18 1'14.353 0.689 8 Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo Ferrari 15 1'14.360 0.696 9 Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri Red Bull 16 1'14.659 0.995 10 Lando Norris
McLaren Mercedes 20 1'14.681 1.017 11 Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo Ferrari 15 1'14.681 1.017 12 Nyck de Vries
AlphaTauri Red Bull 18 1'14.693 1.029 13 Lance Stroll
Aston Martin Mercedes 14 1'14.756 1.092 14 Nico Hulkenberg
Haas Ferrari 12 1'14.988 1.324 15 Oscar Piastri
McLaren Mercedes 17 1'15.105 1.441 16 Esteban Ocon
Alpine Renault 15 1'15.266 1.602 17 Kevin Magnussen
Haas Ferrari 12 1'15.534 1.870 18 Pierre Gasly
Alpine Renault 14 1'15.841 2.177 19 Alex Albon
Williams Mercedes 13 1'15.851 2.187 20 Logan Sargeant
Williams Mercedes 5 1'16.529 2.865 View full results
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