F1: Verstappen tops rain-hit Practice 3 in Barcelona

–by Mark Cipolloni–

All the drivers only got 1 fast lap in for Practice 3 in Barcelona for the Spanish GP before off and on rain hit the track and drivers never got a chance to finish their qualifying simulation runs.

Red Bull Honda driver Max Verstappen turned the fastest time at 1m13.664s to top his teammate Sergio Perez by 0.250s before the rain came down.

Lewis Hamilton was 3rd quick, 0.408s behind in his Mercedes ahead of the #55 Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-5 for Aston Martin, 0.600s back.

George Russell in the #63 Mercedes and Charles Leclerc in the #16 Ferrari were 6th and 7th, 0.614s and 0.689s behind respectively.

Logan Sargeant’s horrible start to his Formula 1 career has continued with a crash in final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The American lost control of his Williams when hitting the curb on the inside of the final corner, skidding across the gravel and into the tire wall lining the circuit.

His car suffered damage to the left-hand side and triggered red flags 10 minutes into the session.

Because of the rain, we really do not know the pecking order for pole later. Will it be dry or will it be a wet session?

What we do know is that Verstappen was fastest in the wet and the dry on Intermediates.

The track was never completely soaked during the session and the track was mostly dry at the end of the session.  Dry enough for some drivers to switch to the soft tires for a few laps, but times never came close to what they were at the start of the session.

Williams now face a race against time to repair the damage sustained in Sargeant’s crash before the start of qualifying.

Practice 3 Results