Red Bull and McLaren look like the teams to beat in Spain after locking out the top four spots on the timesheet for third free practice.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took yet another 1-2. The young German beating his teammate by seven-tenths of a second.
Lewis Hamilton managed to lead Jenson Button by just 0.028s, however both McLaren’s were almost a second off Vettel’s blistering pace.
Michael Schumacher rounded the top five off, yet again beating Nico Rosberg in the updated MGP-01.
Kamui Kobayashi suffered a spin and planted his Sauber in the gravel trap, not a minute later Vitaly Petrov lost his car at the same corner.
His spin resulted in a red flag after coming into contact with the barrier and causing severe damage to the rear of the R30. The session restarted with 30 minutes remaining.
Adrian Sutil stopped on track after loosing power in the second sector with just six minutes remaining on the clock.
Times for Saturday practice three:
| 01 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:20.528 | 14 |
| 02 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:21.232 | 11 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:21.348 | 14 |
| 04 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:21.376 | 16 |
| 05 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:21.583 | 13 |
| 06 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:21.749 | 16 |
| 07 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:22.013 | 14 |
| 08 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:22.091 | 14 |
| 09 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:22.377 | 12 |
| 10 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:22.400 | 18 |
| 11 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:22.436 | 10 |
| 12 | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:22.507 | 19 |
| 13 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | 1:22.527 | 19 |
| 14 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:22.634 | 16 |
| 15 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:22.926 | 19 |
| 16 | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:22.953 | 16 |
| 17 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:23.597 | 12 |
| 18 | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:23.896 | 5 |
| 19 | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:24.610 | 14 |
| 20 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:24.745 | 10 |
| 21 | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:25.722 | 15 |
| 22 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | 1:25.855 | 14 |
| 23 | K. Chandhok | HRT | 1:26.611 | 17 |
| 24 | B. Senna | HRT | 1:30.246 | 6 |
All timing unofficial
