Oscar Piastri laid down his marker ahead of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing FP3 half a second up on his team-mate Lando Norris.

The Briton had been on similar pace when he bottomed out on his flying lap, but given that Piastri was seven-tenths quicker than third-placed Charles Leclerc, it wasn’t so much a marker as it was a warning from McLaren.

McLaren 1-2 in final practice

As the drivers geared up for final practice, a wall of Red Bull blue surrounded the garage as the team fired up the RB21s but out of sight of inquisitive eyes.

Franco Colapinto, on the back of a poor Friday, was the first driver out, bolting on a set of medium Pirellis as he was joined by Gabriel Bortoleto and the Aston Martin team-mates.

The Sauber driver went P1 with a 1:15.2, but that was three seconds down on Oscar Piastri’s P1 time from Friday.

In a slow start to the session, Carlos Sainz was P1 20 minutes into FP3, three-tenths up on Lando Norris, with only 11 drivers having set times.

As more drivers ventured out, Ferrari took over at the front as Charles Leclerc clocked a 1:13.9 to go a tenth up on Lewis Hamilton.

Kimi Antonelli was the last of the 20 runners to post a time, up to second place on the soft Pirelli tyres as his Mercedes team-mate George Russell hit the front with a 1:13.3. They were, however, separated by over four-tenths of a second.

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“I have something hard on my left leg on my seat. If you can check that, that would be good,” said Oscar Piastri as he returned to the McLaren garage.

Meanwhile, wide at Turn 10, Liam Lawson dipped into the gravel and returned to the Racing Bulls garage for a quick check on his car.

Hamilton, having dropped to fifth place, was also having a few issues as he told his race engineer Riccardo Adami: “I can’t get the tyres ready on a single cool.”

The drivers returned to the pits to make final set-up changes and bolt on soft tyres before their qualifying simulations. However, Antonelli having already done a soft tyre run, ran an old set of tyres for his second soft tyre run with the Italian only a tenth down on his previous best.

And then Max Verstappen fired in a 1:13.3 to go quickest of all.

Norris made a mistake on his flying lap on the soft tyres, bottoming out and he went flying off the track at Turn 9. He headed back into the pits, told McLaren had noticed “porpoising”.

Meanwhile, his team-mate Piastri did a particular slow out-lap, almost crawling around the circuit. And then went purple, purple, and purple. A 1:12.913.

Leclerc up his pace but remained third, seven-tenths down on Piastri. Verstappen tried again but was four-tenths down in the first sector alone. He had a moment with tyres in the gravel and finished over a second down. His previous best was 0.998s off the pace.

Hamilton had a late gear shift issue on his in-lap into the pits, reporting he could not downshift.

Spanish GP FP3 result

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:12.387
2 Lando Norris McLare +0.526
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.743
4 George Russell Mercedes +0.752
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.988
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.995
7 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.018
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.027
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +1.140
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.250
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.335
12 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.346
13 Carlos Sainz Williams +1.371
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +1.505
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.517
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.567
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.698
18 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.751
19 Alexander Albon Williams +1.902
20 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +2.073

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