Piastri flies in FP3 ahead of important Qualifying in Spain

Scorching track conditions kept most drivers in the garage early in FP3, before Oscar Piastri charged to the top of the timesheets, deeming himself the man to beat heading into an important Qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Despite having just sixty minutes of practice left ahead of the first competitive session of the weekend, cars on track during the opening fifteen minutes of FP3 were a rarity as the drivers shielded themselves from the scoring track conditions for as long as possible.

Barring a few scarce appearances, the circuit finally burst to life as the likes of Williams, McLaren and Red Bull pitched in the early top three times, with the home hero of Carlos Sainz recording the first benchmark of a 1:14.124s.

The Spaniard was soon demoted by his former team, as Ferrari started its Saturday with a much stronger showing compared to Friday when Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton slotted into P1 and P2 on differing compounds. 

Also staking his claim at an early top-three lap was Liam Lawson, who set an initial time of 1:14.647s on the medium compound tyre.

The Kiwi gradually drifted down the pecking order into P13 as he returned to the pitlane, undergoing a few tweaks before he rejoined the action once again.

On return, it was a messy run for the Racing Bulls driver when he ran wide at Turn 10, picking up dust on his tyres which left him twitching into the gravel around the sweeping Turn 12.

When it came time to make the switch to the soft compound tyre, Lawson was the last driver to launch on the C3.

Setting three personal best sectors, the Kiwi improved into the top ten, recording a red-marked time of 1:13.637s that left him two-tenths behind his teammate.

That remained the #30’s fastest time of the session, seeing him head into Qualifying with top ten pace as the chequered flag fell in Barcelona.

Starting the final practice session on the medium compound tyre, Oscar Piastri joined the FP3 action with 40 minutes on the clock.

He set an initial time of 1:14.487s, slotting into the top five before he was forced to return to the pitlane after Piastri reported feeling “something hard” on his seat.

The issue required an in-depth inspection, taking up precious minutes of Piastri’s final practice before he was rereleased back onto the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for what was a relatively messy run through the first sector. 

As a result, the Australian sat over a second off the pace before he made the switch to the soft compound tyre in the final 15 minutes of the session.

Piastri lit up the timesheets, flying through all three sectors with purple pace before shooting to the top of the order with a time of 1:12.387s.

That lap remained untouchable — especially after his teammate’s run was cut short when he bottomed out at Turn 9 —  allowing the Australian to finish as the man to beat heading into a crucial Qualifying session in Piastri’s championship campaign.

As the session progressed to the halfway mark, the Mercedes-powered competitors of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris had commanded the top three times, with the #63 putting a four-tenth margin between his teammate as he claimed P1 with a time of 1:13.396s.

Those not as fortunate during FP3 found themselves falling victim to the exit of the long sweeping corner of Turn 12, with the gravel trap catching many drivers out including Lawson, Ollie Bearman and Max Verstappen.

On the technical side of things, Red Bull’s concerns regarding the RB21’s lack of grip had continued into this session, with Yuki Tsunoda reporting that he was sliding through the 4.7km lap, leaving him in the bottom half of the order for the majority of the hour.

His teammate didn’t suffer the same fate, however, with Verstappen flying across the lap to set two overall fastest sectors on his way to the top of the timesheets, crossing the line with a time of 1:13.375s as the field made the switch to the soft compound tyre in the final 15 minutes.

The Dutchman was outpaced by the McLaren duo as they joined him on the C3, before Leclerc and Russell further demoted him to P5, however, what was most notable was the fact that the closest RBPT-powered car to Verstappen was Isack Hadjar, tracking just seven milliseconds behind when the chequered flag was waved.

The field remained on track to complete their final practice starts on the grid, however, Lewis Hamilton’s session ended in worry when he reported an issue with the SF25’s down shifts during his in-lap.

By the time the seven-time world champion reached the pit entry, the issue had been “solved”, allowing the Ferrari garage to breathe a sigh of relief ahead of the upcoming Qualifying shootout which will kick off at 00:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 3 Results:

2025 Spanish Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, May 30:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 31:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 01:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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