Yesterday saw the return of Formula 1 cars bouncing (let’s not call it porpoising…) with many drivers visibly suffering on the final corner. However, Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff didn’t believe many drivers will make set-up changes to eliminate the issue.
“From the drivers I spoke to it wasn’t worth the compromise because it’s only happening in that one corner. Some of them are complaining about it in Turn 10 as well, but because it’s only affecting one or two corners on the track, some of them are saying it’s not worth the compromise from a set-up perspective.” – she said ahead of the final free practice session for the 2023 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, which took place this afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
There were reports of lightening at the circuit, but it was still dry with just a few minutes until the start of FP3 at the Montmelo track.
When Max Verstappen dominated first practice around this time yesterday, it appeared this weekend might be somewhat of a formality in terms of the race winner. However, a much closer second practice and now a major threat of rain has transformed the situation, setting up an intriguing qualifying session later today. Meanwhile, this upcoming final practice session actually provided a chance for crucial running, with rain potentially also in the air on Sunday.
Given rain was likely to come during FP3, most drivers were getting out there to do some dry running. There was a big queue at the end of the pit lane, led by the Williams drivers. Everyone was out on track with lightning not far away and we got a flurry of lap times in the first few minutes at the Circuit de Catalunya. It looked like there may only be time for one or two dry laps before the rain comes.
Esteban Ocon was been told rain will arrive at 11.40 (UK time) and George Russell was informed to expect light rain at first followed by a greater intensity, just as straight into the 1:13s went Sergio Perez to set the early pace on the soft tyres. Lewis Hamilton slotted into second, from George Russell and Valtteri Bottas. Soon after, Max Verstappen got a quarter of a second faster than his team-mate to make it a Red Bull one-two, while only the Ferrari cars and Alpines were on medium tyres at this stage, with everyone else on softs.
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Fernando Alonso moved up to fifth and was 0.600s behind Max Verstappen. The Ferrari drivers switched to the softs, with Carlos Sainz jumping up to fourth place: “The Ferrari for me still looks like it’s got one of the worst ride qualitys” said Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson.
With 51 minutes to go in FP3, a cloud of dust was thrown up at the final corner – and Williams’ Logan Sargeant was in the wall. Replays showed him losing the rear and sliding at diminishing speed through the gravel: “I’m so sorry,” he said as he got out of the car – and this session was red flagged after only nine minutes.
The pit lane was green again but nobody wanted to go out on track as they waited to see how much rain fell. But rain is expected throughout the afternoon, so the teams were also aware they had to get some practice in such conditions before Qualy later today. Lando Norris was the first driver to brave the conditions just as the rain intensity began to increase. But that didn’t last long. The British driver came straight back in after cutting the inside kerb at Turn Nine on the intermediates and was searching for grip through the final sector.
With 20 minutes to go in this final free practice session, Carlos Sainz got out there to the delight of the Spanish crowd. He was joined by his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc on the intermediates. And both Ferrari drivers did stay out there. Not much spray in the first half of the lap, it was just the final sector which looked very slippery. However the rain appeared to have eased and Carlos Sainz did a lap which was 12 seconds behind Max Verstappen’s leading time, while Charles Leclerc had a small moment at Turn 10 but carried on his way.
Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Oscar Piastri were also out on track with the Ferrari SF-23 cars. With ten minutes to go, we had 16 drivers on track but not Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc. The fourth driver was Logan Sargeant, who crashed earlier in the session. Lance Stroll had a trip through the gravel on the outside of Turn Five but carried on his way. He boxed so the team could check the floor.
This was courageous move from Lando Norris: the McLaren man was the only driver who decided to go out on soft tyres in this final part of FP3. Everyone else was on inters. He set a decent time of 1:21:621 – which was faster than the cars on inters. Well done Lando! Pierre Gasly also ran through the gravel, this time at Turn Eight. Just like Lance Stroll, he came away unscathed.
Carlos Sainz was out on softs as well and was around five seconds quicker than his best lap on the intermediates. Other drivers were also trying the slick tyres including Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Fernando Alonso.
That was it for an unusual Final Practice for the Spanish GP. Nearly everyone got some running on the slicks at the end after a big lull in the middle of the session when rain arrived.
Practice Three Final Standings!
After a rain disrupted session, the final timings remain the same as 10 minutes in… these are the top 10 drivers:
1) Max Verstappen 1:13.664
2) Sergio Perez +0.250s
3) Lewis Hamilton +0.408s
4) Carlos Sainz +0.576s
5) Fernando Alonso +0.600s
6) George Russell +0.614s
7) Charles Leclerc +0.689s
8) Valterri Bottas +0.696s
9) Yuki Tsunoda +0.995s
10) Lando Norris +1.017s
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