Lewis Hamilton led a third straight Mercedes 1-2 in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.
As teams conducted their final preparations ahead of qualifying, the world champion posted a 1m17.222s to finish a tenth-and-a-half clear of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Max Verstappen remained Mercedes’ nearest challenger in third but the gap was a little less at only half a second behind Hamilton in third, this also including a poor final sector on the Dutchman’s best lap.
The midfield battle raged behind with seven drivers covered by less a third of a second from P4 to P10.
Carlos Sainz was at the head of that group in fourth for McLaren, 0.05s clear of Sergio Perez in the Racing Point.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari in sixth, half a second clear of teammate Sebastian Vettel as the four-time world champion struggled in 12th.
Pierre Gasly continued his underrated performance in seventh for AlphaTauri, two places ahead of Alex Albon in ninth in the Red Bull.
After the high of fourth on Friday, Daniel Ricciardo slipped back to 10th in FP3, with teammate Esteban Ocon in 11th.
Drama between Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen at the end of FP3 ? ?#SpanishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/auSA7RtD2A
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2020
There was drama in the final minutes though as, moments after letting Kevin Magnussen past in the Haas, the Dane moved across into the Frenchman’s path and braked, with Ocon having to take avoiding action and sliding into the wall as a result.
Romain Grosjean wasn’t able to sustain his fifth place from Friday, dropping down to 13th in final practice on Saturday morning.
Lando Norris’ struggles continued in 15th, while at the back of the field, George Russell’s hopes of a fifth straight Q2 appearance seem slim in 19th, albeit half a second clear of teammate Nicholas Latifi.
Full results from FP3 can be seen below:
