McLaren stuns rivals with blistering FP3 pace in Spain

Piastri set the fastest time of 1m12.387s, the quickest of the weekend so far, a commanding 0.526s clear of teammate Norris.

The championship leader backed up his pace from FP2 and looks primed to challenge for his first pole position at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Despite an early setback with a seat issue that forced a lengthy repair in the garage, Piastri returned to the track unfased, delivering a performance that served as a clear warning ahead of qualifying.

Norris, meanwhile, was on a flying lap late in the session and looked set to match his teammate before losing time going off at turn 9, with McLaren later confirming a porpoising issue with his MCL39.

Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Max Verstappen were third, fourth and fifth respectively, but were more than seven tenths slower than Piastri’s time.

Verstappen, who had set the pace at the halfway point of the session, was nearly a full second off the Australian and only narrowly ahead of the impressive Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar in sixth.

Kimi Antonelli was seventh for Mercedes, one spot ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who continues to show pace at his home grand prix as he pushes for his first points of 2025.

Lewis Hamilton reported gearshift issues throughout the session and could only manage ninth for Ferrari, with Liam Lawson rounding out the top ten.

The Kiwi had a hairy moment early in the session, running wide at turn 10 before bouncing through the gravel at turn 12.

Kick Sauber found some pace in FP3, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg finishing in 11^th and 12^th.

It was a different story for Williams, with Carlos Sainz down in 13th and Alex Albon languishing in 19th.

Yuki Tsunoda again voiced frustration over sliding issues in his RB21 and ended the session 14th, ahead of Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.

Haas had a session to forget, with Esteban Ocon in 18^th and Oliver Bearman in 20^th, the British rookie once again finding the gravel during the session as he did during FP2 yesterday.