Spanish GP: Oscar Piastri heads Lando Norris in McLaren one-two ahead of qualifying in Barcelona

Oscar Piastri set a mighty lap to head McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Piastri beat Norris by half a second as McLaren underlined they have not been affected by the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown which was expected to alter the pecking order.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third but 0.743s down on pace-setter Piastri, who leads Norris by three points in the Drivers’ Championship.

Norris had run wide on his first soft tyre run at the high-speed Turn 9, so completed his best lap on older rubber but Piastri is the driver to beat going into qualifying later on Saturday at 3pm, live on Sky Sports F1.

“We don’t need to consider the caveats – that was a monumental performance from McLaren,” said 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg.

“Absolutely shocking to us, we did not expect them to be that fast. Seriously impressive.

“It kind of reminded me a bit of my Mercedes days around here, just a different category. The car is on rails out there and Oscar delivered another perfect lap. That was a big warning to the opposition.”

George Russell had topped the timesheets after the first runs but finished the session in fourth, with Max Verstappen unhappy with his car in fifth and nearly one second off the pace.

Verstappen has won the last three races in Barcelona but faces an uphill battle to make inroads into his 25-point deficit to Piastri in the championship.

Racing Bulls’ duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson were sixth and 10th, with Lewis Hamilton continuing to struggle in ninth. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was seventh and home hero Fernando Alonso in eighth.

Elsewhere, Williams’ Alex Albon suffered a reliability issue that left him in the garage for the second half of the session which did not feature any major incidents, similarly to Friday.

Spanish GP Practice Three Timesheet


Driver	Team	Time
1) Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:12.387
2) Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.526
3) Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.743
4) George Russell	Mercedes	+0.752
5) Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.988
6) Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+0.995
7 Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+1.018
8) Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.027
9) Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.140
10) Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.250
11) Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+1.335
12) Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+1.346
13) Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1.371
14) Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+1.505
15) Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.517
16) Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.567
17) Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.698
18) Esteban Ocon	Haas	+1.751
19) Alex Albon	Williams	+1.902
20) Oliver Bearman	Haas	+2.073

Sky Sports F1’s Spanish GP schedule

Saturday May 31
2.10pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: SPANISH GP QUALIFYING*

Sunday June 1
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Spanish GP build-up*
2pm: The SPANISH GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

F1’s European triple header concludes with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona this weekend, with live coverage starting from Friday on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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