Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets during a chaotic FP3 at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, view the full session report here.
Friday’s Free Practice sessions saw Mercedes set the pace, with George Russell leading FP1 and Kimi Antonelli topping FP2 ahead of the Ferrari pair. Arvid Lindblad became the first F1 driver to find the barriers in FP2, triggering the first red flag of the weekend, while several other drivers had close calls, highlighting the circuit’s narrow margins for error.
Green light for FP3 at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
The final practice session of the weekend began slowly, with no cars lining up at the pit lane exit. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg were the first drivers to head out onto the 45°C track. Bortoleto set the session’s first time with a 1:35.777, though his teammate quickly improved. Other drivers soon began their out-laps, with Lance Stroll joining the session 10 minutes in after Aston Martin broke the curfew to work on a battery problem.
Several yellow flags appeared throughout the first twenty minutes, with Alex Albon brushing the wall in Turn 20, Carlos Sainz having a moment at Turn 7, and Stroll locking up and going into a run-off area. Albon’s minor incident ended his session, with the team later reporting a broken left rear suspension.
Lindblad was set to miss much of the one-hour FP3 session with Racing Bulls still working to change the Briton’s chassis following his FP2 crash.
Hamilton brings out the weekend’s second red flag
Running on soft tyres, Leclerc jumped to the top with a 1:33.332. However, drama struck for teammate Lewis Hamilton, who locked up and ran straight into the barriers at the final corner. Despite a puncture and a damaged front wing, Hamilton reversed out and got moving, eager to return to the garage under a red flag. However, after negotiations with the team, Hamilton parked up on the side of the track, with the remainder of the grid returning to the pit lane.
With time ticking down, Leclerc sat at the top, followed by Antonelli, Lando Norris, Hamilton, and Hülkenberg completing the top five. Norris’ P3 proved promising after the reigning World Champion missed much of FP2 due to a gearbox issue.
Further down, Russell and Verstappen were yet to set a representative time.
A lengthy delay
Despite Hamilton’s car being cleared quickly, barrier repairs proved to be more time-consuming. Race Control opted to temporarily suspend the 2026 F1 Spanish GP FP3 session with 15 minutes left.
The session resumed at 13:32 local time, with all drivers, including Lindblad, lining up at the pit lane exit. Bottas led the pack onto the grid before Verstappen stormed to P2, just 0.558s off Leclerc’s time. Times continued to improve, with Antonelli regaining P2 and Piastri and Russell taking P3 and P4, respectively. Norris soon knocked Antonelli down after completing a strong flying lap of 1:33.033.
However, the championship leader bounced back quickly, going to the top of the timesheets after finding impressive pace.
Bearman finds the wall in the final seconds
Heading into the final moments, drivers kept pushing to the limits, with Bearman suffering a massive crash at Turn 10/11 and triggering the second red flag of the session. The Briton left the car unharmed, while the session ended with Antonelli fastest.
