Norris in Barcelona
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12:05
RED FLAG
Bottas loses the rear at Turn 11 and beaches his Cadillac in the gravel. That's nbot an ideal way to end your session.
12:04
Leclerc goes for a second effort on the same set of tyres and falls a few tenths shy of his best.
12:02
P6 for Hamilton. Given the absolute best would have been taken out of the tyres on his aborted effort, that's not terrible. He's half-a-second off Leclerc in P4, highlighting the scale of the penalty a small error could bring.
12:00
Hamilton has bailed early on his first timed effort after a strong sector one. A very loose moment on the exit of Turn 2 caused him to back out.
11:59
Purple sectors again, and Russell goes to the top with a 1m16.258s. Antonelli goes second, 0.242s behind his Mercedes team-mate.
11:58
P6 for Hadjar, who falls behind Lindblad by a couple of tenths. Verstappen goes P3 and looks stronger than on Friday. It'd be a stretch to suggest that Red Bull is back in the mix, to be honest.
11:57
P3 for Piastri with a 1m17.281s. It wasn't bad, but there was plenty that could be tidied on that tour. Given how far off the times are so far, maybe we're seeing some sandbagging.
11:55
The Red Bull pair now leave the garage as Piastri begins his first effort. Antonelli, Hamilton, and Russell are the only three drivers yet to be seen.
11:54
P2 for Leclerc, but there were lifts all over the place and a huge oversteer moment as he came across traffic. There is plenty of time to be found as the track rubbers in.
11:54
At the other end of the scale, a 1m20.375s for Stroll. Oh dear.
11:53
Maybe not, as Bortoleto puts in a 1m17.581 on softs, but Norris smashes that with a 1m16.609s.
We're some way off the Friday times still, but that is a decent opening effort.
11:52
Hulkenberg improves on the medium tyres with a 1m18.255s, as Bearman, Ocon and Albon fall short on the soft tyres. That is very interesting! Could the medium be the ideal qualifying tyre?
11:50
Never mind the midfield though, as purple sectors light up the timing screen, here comes Norris.
11:49
Stroll also joins the action for Aston Martin. Soft tyres again.
Alonso and Bortoleto also head out, and softs again.
11:48
What is this? We have even more cars heading out after almost 20 minutes. Both Williams drivers and both Haas drivers head out, all on soft tyres.
11:48
Hold the phone, Hulkenberg comes to our rescue again! Medium tyres still, as he ventures out for a second time after completing a practice start.
It should be said that he missed FP1 as Paul Aron got a rookie run-out.
11:47
And we're back to a completely empty track. The entertainment level of this session is extreme!
Is anyone else thinking of the meme of something being prodded with a stick with the caption, 'Come on, do something'?
11:44
The Cadillac dominance of FP3 is over. Hulkenberg puts in a 1m18.477s effort, 1.485s better than Bottas' soft tyre effort.
11:40
We have a non-Cadillac on the track. Hulkenberg begins a run on medium tyres for Audi.
11:40
The current order makes for good reading for Cadillac, as the team enjoys a one-two with Bottas leading Perez.
The times, however, are nothing to shout about, with a 1m19.962s the benchmark, over four-and-a-half seconds off the Friday best.
11:36
And the track has fallen silent. Hold on, Bottas is back out on the track after a quick front wing flap adjustment.
11:33
With tyre deg so high this weekend and a likely two-stop plan for Sunday, or maybe even three stops, don't expect to see the most running ever in this session.
Only the Cadillac pair of Bottas and Perez are out at the moment, with a mix of soft and mediums tyres being run.
11:30
FP3 begins
Out comes Bottas as the lights go green and FP3 gets underway.
11:27
Three minutes to go before the green lights.
11:26
Alpine will be interesting to watch this weekend. Flying high off the back of a podium for Gasly in Monaco, momentum is a powerful thing in F1, and he will hope to continue this form with more points in Spain.
Originally published by Crash.net —
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