EL3 in Barcelona: Verstappen stands out before qualifying

Discreet in EL2, the fault of a small error in his flying lap, Max Verstappen came out of his box in the final moments of Free Practice 3 to remind us that Red Bull hadn't come to Spain to visit the Sagrada Familia or enjoy tapas on the Ramblas.

The Dutchman becomes the first driver to go under the 1’18” mark this weekend with a reference lap completed in 1’17”835 with an attempt on Soft tires in the final 10 minutes of EL3. 

Verstappen thus dispossesses Lewis Hamilton of the best time. The seven-time world champion and current leader of the Drivers’ ranking is 0 seconds behind. The leader Mercedes precedes the Ferrari de Charles Leclerc et Carlos Sainz, which give back about half a second to Red Bull at the top. 

Valtteri Bottas (McLaren) completes the top five, in front Lando Norris, who took a little off-road excursion at turn 10 aboard his McLaren. 

Pierre Gasly confirms his good intentions with the 7th time for Alpha Tauri. In difficulty since the start of the season, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) regains color with the 8th fastest time in EL3. 

The Australian precedes an astonishing Kimi Raïkkönen (Alfa Romeo), who must make up for his mistake at the start of the race in Portimão (Portugal), and a disappointing Sergio Pérez, who struggles to put everything together on a fast lap on the Red Bull side. 

In spirit during EL2, the Alpine de Fernando Alonso andEsteban Ocon dive back into the soft underbelly of the peloton with only 11th and 13th times. Yuki tsunoda inserts its AlphaTauri-Honda between the two A521s. 

Very discreet session at Aston Martin, Lance stroll finishing in 14th place, three positions ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

At the bottom of the rankings, we find the usual suspects: Nicholas latifi (Williams), and the Haas de Mick Schumacher et Nikita mazepin.

Max Verstappen grabs P1 in our final practice session prior to qualifying 

Three teams in the top three, we're liking this #SpanishGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/JTGAyvXuVm

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 8, 2021