F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 10th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Friday's action set up an intriguing battle with little to separate pace-setters Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes from the chasing pack, with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all in close pursuit.
Causing a surprise in the top 10 were both Alpine drivers, with Pierre Gasly fourth and Esteban Ocon ninth.
FP3 will get under way at 12:30pm local time (11:30am BST) with qualifying following at 4pm local time (3pm BST).
Live Standings
Live Text
Hello and welcome to coverage of Saturday at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Qualifying is to come later, but first we have the final hour of practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Before we get ready for practice, a developing story in the paddock.
There has been a fire in the McLaren hospitality unit, with crews on the scene. We will keep you up to date with any developments.
Photo by: Jon Noble
Back to the track action and the field was incredibly close in FP2 yesterday - Hamilton and Mercedes on top.
Red Bull has added a number of upgrades this weekend...
Just under five minutes to go until the session gets underway. The weather is pretty much perfect for the session.
Verstappen ran a skinnier rear-wing during FP2 yesterday, but is expected to go to a high-downforce configuration for this session.
Here's the full story on the McLaren fire:
FP3 is underway! Not that you would know as everyone remains in the garages.
Everyone but Hamilton in the Mercedes, that is.
Norris and Piastri are in the garage now.
Hamilton has remained on track rather than coming in to complete an installation lap.
He is on a set of soft tyres to begin with and sets a 1m14.178s.
So five minutes into the session and only Hamilton has set a lap time.
Verstappen now exits the points on a set of mediums.
Hamilton has returned to the pits as Verstappen winds up for his first lap of the session.
The first sector is a few tenths up on Hamilton but the Mercedes found time in the middle part of the lap.
Verstappen goes second for now, not that these times mean anything.
McLaren has managed to get driving equipment to its drivers, who are now getting ready for the session, as Magnussen, Tsunoda and both Aston Martins join the track.
The Aston Martins did their usual scrubbing of a set of hard tyres before pitting at the end of the lap, but the track is now a hive of activity.
Stroll team radio: "Can you get me a knee pad for the next run? I have some knee pain."
Perez has gone fourth on mediums, ahead of Tsunoda, whilst Russell has gone fastest so far on a set of soft tyres with a 1m13.431.
Sainz is next over the line, followed by Leclerc, with the Ferraris splitting the Mercedes drivers.
Russell has also asked for some foam for the knees. Weird that two drivers are struggling all of a sudden.
Almost a third of the way through the session and only 10 times have been set - Russell the fastest so far.
Norris goes second now with his - and McLaren's - first lap of the hour.
He is 0.104s off Russell's time, but this is already shaping up to be a thrilling day.
Leclerc: "Good job on the car, it's a good step forward."
High praise from the Ferrari driver, who struggled on Friday.
Alonso has just crossed the line for his first official time of the session, on a set of medium tyres. That was good enough for only 12th.
It seems as though, with track temperatures still high, that tyres are being saved for qualifying here.
There could be a flurry of quali sims in the final quarter of the session though.
Hamilton is back out on track with a set of softs, but the 1.8s gap in the first sector points to a high-fuel long run.
A bit of racing action as Russell slipstreams past Tsunoda, with the help of DRS.
The RB driver yields and allows himself a gap.
With that help from Tsunoda, Russell's most recent lap on this programme was a second up on Hamilton's - but that's not representative at all.
Meanwhile, down at Ferrari, there is work ongoing at the back of Sainz's car.
Gasly is out on softs, running with a load of flow-vis on the back of the rear wing of his Alpine.
Even now the team is picking up data as it attempts to improve its prospects.
“Verstappen’s long run down at Turn 10 isn’t looking too smooth right now - his rear end is regularly squirming as he accelerates, which the tyres hate.”
Twenty minutes to go and both McLarens have pitted and returned to the track on softs. By Piastri's out-lap, this will be a quali sim.
A big snap of oversteer at Turn 1 and Piastri backs out straight away.
Norris backed out of his first lap in annoyance after encountering some traffic at Turn 7. He pitted and comes back on track.
Norris is now up in sector one - but not the best S1 of the session so far.
Into the second split and he goes purple - now three-tenths up on Russell's lap from earlier...
Across the line he comes and he goes fastest with a 1m13.043s.
That was on his second lap and also had a puff of gravel in the last sector. Not as bad as his team-mate's own moment entering the penultimate corner though - Piastri slotting into seventh after losing time.
That was the first real qualifying attack from Norris there. Hamilton is warming up for his attempt but as others filter through, we should dip into the 1m12s.
Hamilton is fastest in S2 and is about to come across the line - it's not a great final sector as he misses out on the top spot by three-tenths.
Contact between Stroll and Hamilton after the Aston Martin driver was impeded.
It seemed a bit needless from Stroll on the outside of Turn 5, though he was held up. Carbon fibre flew but both have continued.
Russell has set his quali lap and ended up 0.121s behind Norris. Next up is the Ferrari duo, led by Sainz.
By: Autosport Staff
