The many fans of Carlos Sainz are sure to ramp up their support for the local hero for this afternoon’s qualifying in Barcelona after the Spaniard concluded Saturday’s final practice at the top of the timesheets.
In a session marked by its messy conclusion, with several drivers’ maneuvers drawing the scrutiny of the stewards, Sainz’s advantage was a mere 0.030s over McLaren’s Lando Norris, with his Scuderia teammate Charles Leclerc just 0.037s adrift.
Max Verstappen concluded the final dress rehearsal fourth, proving that Red Bull is still struggling to optimize its RB20. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton complete the top six for Mercedes.
Friday’s very hot conditions which left drivers struggling with grip and tyre management extended into Saturday, with track temperatures set at a blistering 40°C when final practice kicked off.
Yesterday’s pace setter, Lewis Hamilton, was the first to break the silence, but the Mercedes charger was on his own in the opening minutes of the session, with the majority of the runners remaining in their garage.
Verstappen was the second driver to get going, and gradually the traffic swelled but it was still a slow build-up.
Twenty minutes into the session, Russell – shod with Pirelli’s soft compound - led the pecking order from Norris, and the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc.
Over the radio, the Monegasque commended his team on the overnight changes brought to his car, insisting the tweaks were a “good step forward”, as his early pace reflected.
Meanwhile, despite their strong Friday, Alpine was still collecting data for its A524, with Pierre Gasly running with a massive splash of flow-vis on the back of his rear wing.
As Verstappen indulged on a long run, the Dutchman’s RB20 looked thoroughly unstable at the rear, a tell-tale sign that Red Bull is still struggling to instill some consistent balance into its contender.
Shortly after the session’s half-way mark, the soft tyre was widely adopted which signaled that qualifying runs were likely in order.
Sure enough, a push from Norris on the softs sent the Briton to the top of the timesheets with a 1m13.043s that edged Russell’s best by 0.388s.
Hamilton’s own effort carried the seven-time world champion to P2, but onboard footage revealed that the Mercedes driver was made to work very hard, especially in the final sector, to extract performance from his machine.
But on his cool down lap, Hamilton impeded Aston’s Lance Stroll, which incited the frustrated Canadian to give the Briton a bit of needless nudge on the sidepod. Both drivers were to report to the stewards after the session.
Speaking of final sectors, a blistering pace by Sainz in the latter on the softs allowed the local hero to spring to the top, 0.030s clear of Norris, while Leclerc slotted into third, just ahead of Verstappen.
As qualifying runs ramped up in the closing minutes of the session, so did the intensity, with Leclerc and Norris tripping over each other, although it appeared that the Ferrari driver had steered into the McLaren.
Further down the road, a rushing Sainz was impeded by a slow moving Verstappen lingering on the racing line.
Both incidents were noted by the stewards, and it would be surprising if everyone was let off the hook.
FP3 thus left Sainz at the top of the pile, the Spanaird leading Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton in P6. Thereafter, Perez, Albon, Alonso and Piastri completed the top ten with the group separated by 0.894s.
It’s all to play for in qualifying, with Red Bull’s rivals determined to give Verstappen a run for the Dutchman’s money and even more.
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