F1 Spanish GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying
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Hamilton, on a fresh set of softs, is set to restore a more familiar Mercedes 1-2...
Track grip conditions are definitely improving but that is still a very impressive lap by Sainz for McLaren to claim second place. He is currently eight-tenths of a second faster than team-mate Norris who certainly wasn't a slouch earlier in this session.
Vettel is up to P6 but is half a second behind Ferrari team-mate Leclerc on the latest qualifying simulation run. It might only be one place different on the timesheet but that is a huge difference.
Stopwatch
A sweet lap from Sainz, as he splits the Mercedes pair to go P2 with a 1m18.046s.
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Stopwatch
Impressive work from Verstappen as he puts in a 1m18.160s, he stays P3 but moves to within two-tenths off leader Bottas and one-tenth behind Hamilton in P2.
Hamilton steps up his single-lap pace with a 1m18.077s but stays in second place with just over one tenth of a second splitting him from Bottas.
Albon goes P6, on the mediums, with a 1m19.182s with Leclerc and Gasly splitting him from his Red Bull team-mate.
Stopwatch
Verstappen, also on the softs, goes P3 with a 1m18.487s on his first timed lap. That puts him half a second behind Bottas.
Radio Comms
"Tyres completely gone", says Kvyat over his team radio. He's done seven laps on the softs so far.
Every driver apart from Grosjean and the Red Bull duo have set times in this session so far, but both Verstappen and Albon have just started their first runs of FP3.
Stopwatch
Bottas duly goes top with a 1m17.971s despite a slide out of the chicane. Hamilton also gets it wrong at the chicane, struggling on entry, meaning he slots into P2 with a 1m18.324s.
Here come the Mercedes pair so expect a shake-up at the sharp end of the times...
Stopwatch
Leclerc is the latest name at the top of the times with a 1m18.950s set on the medium tyres.
Information
Sainz and Grosjean have both taken a variety of new power unit elements this morning but neither face a grid penalty as they are still within their allocation.
Stopwatch
Raikkonen puts in a 1m19.521s to take top spot off Norris, while the track is getting much busier now with Sainz, Ocon, Russell, Kvyat and Vettel joining the action.
Alfa Romeo pair Raikkonen and Giovinazzi give Norris some track company with both drivers on the softs to start with.
Norris opts for a leisurely cooldown lap, almost a full minute slower than his timed effort, before turning up the pace again.
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Stopwatch
Norris duly breaks the track silence to get his day underway. The McLaren driver sets the first timed lap of FP3 of 1m19.620s and, unsurprisingly, goes to the top of the times. He's on the medium tyres rather than the "garbage" hards as he described them yesterday.
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All quiet on track as per a usual start to an FP3 session. Teams will have banks of data from all the laps completed around this track from pre-season testing, albeit not at these hotter temperatures, but it doesn't appear to be bothering the teams at the moment.
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All three complete installation laps and return to their team garages.
Grosjean isn't hanging about this morning as he heads out straight away, which might be connected to the work completed on his Haas after his team broke curfew last night. Sainz and Mangussen also on track early in the session.
Green flag
The green flag is shown which means FP3 is underway!
To no surprise the chance of rain for this session is rated at 0%. The air temperature is already at a steamy 29oC with track temperature up at 43oC. That's quite hot.
Meanwhile there wasn't a lot of love for the Pirelli hard tyre from Norris who felt the C1 compound in practice was "garbage": 
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As is often the case following a busy Friday of track action there was plenty of tyre talk, with Hamilton fearing a repeat of Mercedes' Silverstone blistering issues: 
It is one-all between the Mercedes drivers for top spot honours after the Friday practice sessions, with Bottas leading FP1 before Hamilton responded in the afternoon session. Verstappen remains best of the rest in third place for Red Bull with Ricciardo in fourth while Grosjean impressed for Haas in fifth.
60 minutes of practice to come, starting in a little under 15 minutes, with conditions once again hot and sunny - as expected at this time of year at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Good morning! Who is ready for some more F1 action?
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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