F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Rosberg fastest in FP3, Hamilton spins

Rosberg clocked a 1m26.031s on the medium-compound Pirelli tyre, 0.156s clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton, who topped second practice, ended up third after a messy session that included a spin at Turn 3 and a small mistake on his medium tyre run.

Rosberg was quickest during the hard tyre runs in the opening part of the session, too, when track temperatures were 22C, nearly 30C lower than they were in FP2 on Friday.

The German, who has not beaten Hamilton in either qualifying or the race so far this year, looked smooth throughout the session as he retained his advantage when attention turned to low-fuel runs.

It was not so successful for Hamilton, who after completing just one installation lap in the opening half of the session ran wide onto the astro turf at Turn 3 and spun.

The Briton stopped the car hitting the wall on the inside of the track before engaging reverse and rejoining the fray.

Hamilton's medium tyre run was 0.201s shy of Rosberg's leading time, but four tenths ahead of Williams's Valtteri Bottas in fourth.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fifth, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who recovered from a disappointing day with engine issues on Friday to get 19 laps of running under his belt.

Felipe Massa had a scruffy lap as he clocked the seventh fastest time, with Max Verstappen continuing Toro Rosso's good form at the Circuit de Catalunya so far this weekend to secure eighth.

Daniil Kvyat missed the first 40 minutes of the session while his Red Bull team fixed a water leak and he managed just seven laps and the ninth fastest time, one place clear of Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr.

Jenson Button was the leading McLaren in 11th, ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, who showed good long run pace on Friday.

Sauber is lacking updates in Spain, with Felipe Nasr down in 13th and team-mate Marcus Ericsson 17th.

Fernando Alonso was 14th in the second McLaren, ahead of Lotus pair Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado.

Sergio Perez was nearly a second adrift of his Force India team-mate Hulkenberg in 18th, with the Manor-run Marussias of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi bringing up the rear.

FP3 RESULTS