Leclerc tops third practice, Mercedes resurgence continues

Charles Leclerc completed a clean sweep of the Formula 1 practice sessions at the Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes maintained its frontrunning pace.

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Key moments:

> Leclerc 0.072s faster than Verstappen

> Mercedes third and fourth fastest

> Trouble for Gasly and Schumacher

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Friday pacesetter Leclerc wasn’t able to beat his FP2 benchmark but his 1m19.772s was enough to top the final practice session before qualifying later today.

The 2022 championship leader was 0.072s faster than his title rival Max Verstappen who complained to his Red Bull team that “the car just doesn’t turn in a low-speed, Turn 5 it’s terrible, last chicane as well”.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton continued Mercedes’ promising recovery with the third- and fourth-fastest times. Russell was only 0.148s shy of Leclerc’s session-topping time, with Hamilton a further tenth adrift.

Home hero Carlos Sainz was fifth-fastest in the second Ferrari with Sergio Perez also struggling to match his Red Bull team-mate in sixth place.

Lando Norris was seventh in the upgraded McLaren, enjoying a much smoother session after a scrappy Friday.

The Haas of Kevin Magnussen was eighth-fastest ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, who missed a chunk of running on Friday with an engine problem, and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was 11th-fastest ahead of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in the controversial redesigned AMR22.

Early problems for Pierre Gasly 😣

He's been wheeled back into the garage for the team to take a closer look 🔎💨#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/taV0XvRKNJ

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 21, 2022

Pierre Gasly’s session ended after only a few minutes as smoke billowed out of the back of his AlphaTauri while he was stationary in the pits.

Mick Schumacher’s FP3 also came to a fiery end as his rear brakes caught fire just a few minutes later.

Mick Schumacher's brakes are feeling the Barcelona heat! 🔥

The fire has been put out and he's back in the garage#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rPacCdgIO4

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 21, 2022

His Haas team was unable to repair it in time for him to properly partake in the session.

Practice 3 Results