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Championship leader Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets in Saturday's final practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, but the headlines were dominated by Lewis Hamilton's crash that brought out a lengthy red flag at the new Madring circuit.
With qualifying just hours away, the seven-time world champion lost crucial track time after running deep at the final corner and hitting the barriers head-on. Though the impact was relatively slow, the damage to his front wing forced him to a halt after trying to limp back to the pits—a decision that drew sharp criticism from F1 analyst Anthony Davidson.
Just 20 minutes into the hour-long session, Hamilton was on a promising lap when he outbraked himself at Turn 16, the slowest corner on the 5.471 km circuit. The front wing dislodged and wedged under the right-front tyre, prompting Ferrari to instruct him to stop immediately. Hamilton, eager to avoid missing valuable running for qualifying, attempted to guide the car back, but eventually stopped in the middle sector.
“Any young driver watching this right now, you don’t do that,” Davidson said on Sky Sports F1. “The rule is there for a reason. If the wing had gone completely under the car and jacked up the front wheels while marshals were on track, it could have been dangerous.”
The crash caused a 45-minute red flag to repair the barriers. The clock was stopped with 15 minutes remaining, allowing drivers to complete more laps once the session resumed. Hamilton’s team face a tight turnaround to repair the car before qualifying, though the damage appeared largely cosmetic.
When the green light returned, Antonelli wasted no time, setting a blistering lap of 1:32.797 to edge Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.166 seconds. The Mercedes driver, who leads the Drivers’ Championship by 66 points over teammate George Russell, showed no signs of easing up as he prepares for his first Spanish Grand Prix qualifying.
“Kimi looks incredibly comfortable on this new track,” noted former F1 driver Jenson Button, working as a pundit for Sky. “His confidence is growing every weekend, and the car seems to suit the Madring’s high-speed corners.”
Antonelli’s pace was especially impressive given that Mercedes had struggled in Friday’s second practice, where Russell and the rest of the field grappled with a slippery surface. The Italian teenager’s ability to adapt quickly has been a hallmark of his championship campaign, and he will be the man to beat in qualifying.
McLaren’s resurgence continued as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris claimed third and fourth, respectively. Norris missed almost all of Friday’s FP2 due to a brake issue, making his improvement all the more remarkable. “We’ve got a good baseline now,” Norris said. “The car felt balanced and we have some options for qualifying.”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished fifth, while Russell could only manage sixth. The reigning world champion appeared to be struggling with rear grip, but team principal Christian Horner remained optimistic: “Max wasn’t happy with the balance, but the track is evolving quickly. We know what we need to change for qualifying.”
With the top six covered by less than four-tenths of a second, the battle for pole position is wide open. The new Madring circuit, with its mix of high-speed sweepers and tight hairpins, has rewarded drivers who can balance aggression with precision.
Haas rookie Oliver Bearman also had a dramatic session, crashing heavily at the high-speed Turn 11. The impact was severe enough to bring out local yellows and leave his crew scrambling to rebuild the car before qualifying. Given the team’s limited spare parts inventory, Bearman’s session may already be compromised.
“That’s a tough one for Ollie,” said Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu. “The car is in pieces, but we’ll do everything we can to get
