Already winner of the two free practice sessions of the Spanish GP on Friday, Max Verstappen did it again on Saturday during a third session marked by rain. He beat Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
Who can prevent Max Verstappen from taking pole position in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, which will start at 4:00 p.m.? The double world champion is very comfortable on the Barcelona track, and signed the hat-trick on Saturday by winning the third free practice session on Saturday, after winning the first two on Friday. The Red Bull driver was even faster than the day before, setting a time of 1’13″664 during one of his fourteen laps. He was 250 thousandths ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez and 408 former world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). The two Spaniards Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) complete the Top 5 respectively 576 and 600 thousandths from the winner. We then find George Russell (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
FP3 CLASSIFICATION
Max Verstappen tops a wet-dry FP3 session in Barcelona#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/EqZlKyeCYc
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 3, 2023
Sargeant raises a red flag
This third session turned out to be special, because the rain was quickly announced as they approached the circuit, and all the drivers rushed to set a quick time. The rain finally arrived after ten minutes, which surprised Logan Sargeant (Williams), who left in the gravel of the last corner before going to be embedded gently in the wall of tires, causing a red flag.
The session resumed after nine minutes, but it took half an hour to see drivers again venturing onto the wet track. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) got scared in the last minutes by slipping, but without damage. The Alpine driver finished 18th in this session more than two seconds behind Verstappen, while his teammate Esteban Ocon finished two places ahead of him. We will have to do better during the qualifying session in just under two hours…
