F1 – Sainz sets the pace in final practice for home race in Spain as top four are less than 0.1s apart
![](https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/news/main_image/dppi_00124011_551.jpg?itok=i_LdUD4J)
![](https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/styles/content_details/public/news/main_image/dppi_00124011_551.jpg?itok=i_LdUD4J)
Home hero Carlos Sainz took first place in a tight final practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in which the top four drivers covered less than a tenth of a second. Ferrari driver Sainz finished just 0.030s ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris with Charles Leclerc third ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The final hour of practice got off to a slow start with Lewis Hamilton the only driver to put any time on the board in the first few minutes. The Mercedes driver set a time of 1:14.178 on soft tyres.
As the seven-time champion returned to the pits, Verstappen crossed the line to start his first flying lap of the session, but only marked the Dutchman second behind the Mercedes man. George Russell, in the other Mercedes, topped both with a Soft-Tyre time of 1:13.431.
The Mercedes drivers were then separated from the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Leclerc. Local hero Sainz took second, a tenth off Russell’s lap, while Leclerc crossed the line just three centimeters behind his Ferrari team-mate. Norris then came on and the McLaren driver’s first lap put him second, 0.104 seconds off Russell’s time.
After a series of longer runs in the middle third of the session, the field finally started to get into new Softs for qualifying simulations.
Norris retired from his first lap after encountering traffic at the halfway point, but after a short pitting he was back in contention and after a good first sector, the McLaren driver took purple in Sector 2 and when he crossed the line in 1:13.043 he promoted him to P1. .
Immediately following an episode between Lance Stroll, the Mercedes man is seen blocking the Aston Martin driver. Hamilton then appeared to come out of Turn 5 to let Stroll through, but the Canadian appeared surprised and slid into the side of the Mercedes, leaving the stewards to announce they would investigate the collision after the session.
Russell then simulated his qualifying, finishing 0.121s behind Norris, but both Ferrari drivers made flying starts and Sainz went normally faster with a lap of 1:13.013, 0.030s quicker than Norris. Leclerc was third just seven thousandths of a second behind.
Verstappen took three green fields on his quality run, but the sum of the parts was good enough to take him fourth, 0.037 seconds behind Leclerc and 0.074 behind Sainz.
Russel was 0.151s behind Sainz in fifth, with Hamilton two tenths back. Pérez ended the session in seventh ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:13.013 19 229.619
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.043 0.030 14 229.525
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.050 0.037 18 229.503
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:13.087 0.074 24 229.386
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.164 0.151 20 229.145
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:13.359 0.346 26 228.536
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:13.723 0.710 19 227.408
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:13.753 0.740 14 227.315
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:13.786 0.773 21 227.213
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.907 0.894 14 226.841
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:13.950 0.937 18 226.709
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:13.964 0.951 14 226.667
13 Nico Hulkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:13.975 0.962 20 226.633
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:14.024 1.011 19 226.483
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:14.074 1.061 27 226.330
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:14.161 1.148 17 226.064
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.254 1.241 16 225.781
18 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:14.420 1.407 22 225.278
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:14.572 1.559 17 224.818
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:14.729 1.716 12 224.346