Nico Rosberg led in final free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, but only narrowly ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The German just over a tenth behind his fellow countryman.
Key Points from FP3:
Rosberg’s 1:26.021 is the fastest lap so far this weekend and put the Mercedes driver top during the final practice session ahead of qualifying.
Vettel was second quickest and narrowed the gap to Mercedes, even beating Lewis Hamilton by a five hundredths.
Hamilton’s day didn’t run as smoothly as he’d of hoped. The Briton span at Turn Three after running slightly wide to touch the astroturf which lines the outside of the corner. He managed to recover his car back to the pits to continue the session.
Valtteri Bottas was fourth, six tenths down, whilst Kimi Raikkonen was just within a second of Rosberg’s fastest time, though the Finn wasn’t entirely happy with his car during the hours running.
Jenson Button continued McLaren’s stronger showing with 11th, whilst team-mate and home favourite Fernando Alonso was down in 14th.
Manor’s Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi both had to put in some additional laps to ensure they came within 107 per cent of Rosberg’s time – of which both narrowly managed.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.021 | 19 | |
| 02 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:26.177 | 0.156 | 14 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26.222 | 0.201 | 10 |
| 04 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:26.682 | 0.661 | 19 |
| 05 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:26.944 | 0.923 | 14 |
| 06 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:27.048 | 1.027 | 19 |
| 07 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:27.109 | 1.088 | 19 |
| 08 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:27.132 | 1.111 | 18 |
| 09 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:27.313 | 1.292 | 7 |
| 10 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:27.809 | 1.788 | 17 |
| 11 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:27.938 | 1.917 | 17 |
| 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:28.082 | 2.061 | 13 |
| 13 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:28.096 | 2.075 | 23 |
| 14 | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:28.304 | 2.283 | 17 |
| 15 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:28.578 | 2.557 | 17 |
| 16 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:28.618 | 2.597 | 18 |
| 17 | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:28.788 | 2.767 | 20 |
| 18 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:28.996 | 2.975 | 14 |
| 19 | W. Stevens | Marussia | 1:31.125 | 5.104 | 16 |
| 20 | R. Merhi | Marussia | 1:31.749 | 5.728 | 17 |
