Antonelli tops Madring FP3 as Hamilton crashes to bring lengthy red flag conditions
It was a slow start to the final practice session around Formula One’s newest circuit, the Madring. The first few minutes into the session, cars still opted to stay in the garages, the track quietly simmering under the Spanish sun.
Five minutes in, the Audi pair were the first to venture out, followed by the Williams and Aston Martin pairs.
On his run, Alex Albon clipped the wall and peeled back to the pits to get it checked, as a little later, a momentary yellow flag was caused by his teammate Carlos Sainz who locked-up at Turn 7.
Kimi Antonelli was one of the first drivers to set a competitive lap time, setting a 1:33.664, before being pipped by Charles Leclerc who went three tenths quicker than the championship leader.
Meanwhile, Arvid Lindblad had a chassis change following his FP2 crash, but other issues also appeared to hinder the rookie as he continued to sit out of the session’s beginning.
Another momentary yellow flag came from an incident with Lance Stroll, quickly followed by the first red flag of the session as Lewis Hamilton locked-up and hit the barriers at the final corner while on a competitive lap.
But with the looming threat of a potential FIA investigation for driving a car under unsafe conditions, Ferrari managed to persuade Hamilton to stop the car on track, as the seven time world champion’s session ended early.
The red flag duration continued well past halfway into the session, as Leclerc held the quickest lap time with a 1:33.332 followed by Antonelli, Lando Norris, Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto.
As the delay continued, the decision was made to temporarily stop the session at 15:38 minutes on the clock.
The session restarted at 12:02 BST, as cars piled into the pitlane to make up for lost time, most cars bolting on fresh soft tyres.
As drivers put their times on the board, Leclerc remained on top, while Max Verstappen’s first representative lap of the day took him to third, behind Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
Antonelli soon took the Australian’s spot, while George Russell slotted into fourth place. The track was understandably buzzing with action with 10 minutes to go, as Lindblad was also able to return to the track with the lengthy delay coming in clutch.
Norris quickly bounced back after sitting out FP2 due to a gearbox issue, climbing up to second on only his third push lap of the day, seven hundredths adrift of Leclerc.
The times continued to tumble with five minutes to go, with all the drivers now on softs and simulating their qualifying runs. Both McLaren drivers had competitive laps but looked squirrely through the final sector, Piastri and Norris slotting into third and fourth respectively after their latest flying laps.
Meanwhile, Antonelli got on top of Leclerc’s benchmark, taking it down to 1:32.797.
On the final minute of the session, Bearman crashed to bring the second red flag of the day, effectively ending the final hour of practice with Antonelli topping the times.
Leclerc remained second, followed by Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Lawson, Hülkenberg, Hamilton and Bortoleto.
Looking Ahead
The three practice sessions have given teams plenty of real world data to work with on this brand new circuit. Ahead of qualifying, the front of the field looks tight between Mercedes and Ferrari, however Hamilton's fate is up in the air regarding his failure to halt his damaged car on track at the earliest despite team orders and FIA rules.
Meanwhile, McLaren, Norris in particular, are shaping up to be a credible threat with Norris showing incredible pace today after missing out on crucial track time yesterday.
The first ever qualifying session around the Madring is sure to be a special one, with plenty to look forward to.
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