George Russell sent a statement of intent to teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli by emerging fastest in final practice ahead of qualifying for the Formula 1 Barcelona Catalunya Grand Prix.
FP3 proved to be the definition of the colloquialism of “after you”, as few cars ventured out in the opening minutes, with just Cadillac going out first. The majority of the field instead chose to wait until over 20 minutes had passed.
The reason for their hesitance was clear, the Spanish heat sending the track temperature soaring to a whopping 50’c, making tyre management highly challenging.
Once the first runs were complete, it was the McLarens at the top of the standings, but the session was brought to a halt with 25 minutes remaining, as Valtteri Bottas spun out after reporting his brake pedal had gone.
As more soft tyres were fitted it quickly became apparent that only they only had one lap of lifespan, making the qualifying simulations all the more important.
When the Mercedes showed their hand, Russell jumped to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:15.679, over two tenths clear of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, closely behind Piastri, with Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen rounding out the top six.
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