Antonelli learns stewards' verdict after post-FP3 Barcelona investigation

Antonelli was investigated for driving erratically during the final free practice session in Barcelona. As the Italian began his first flying lap on a set of new soft tyres with around 10 minutes remaining in the session, he encountered Lance Stroll ahead of him into Turn 1. After having to lift, in the following corner, he braked in front of his rival, forcing him to slow down.

The stewards' verdict wrote: "The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 12 (Kimi Antonelli) and team representatives of Mercedes and Aston Martin and reviewed video, telemetry and in- car video evidence.

Antonelli's Mercedes teammate George Russell set the pace during the final session ahead of qualifying in Barcelona. The British driver set a 1:15.679, while Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc completed the top three ahead of qualifying. Both the McLaren and Ferrari drivers finished more than two tenths behind Russell.

As mentioned above, Antonelli was unable to set a competitive lap time during the final minutes of the session after encountering traffic on his second flying lap as well. He finished in seventh place.

The two British F1 world champions on the grid, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, finished fourth and fifth respectively. Red Bull Racing was also well off Mercedes in FP3, as Max Verstappen finished sixth, with a lap seven and a half tenths slower than Russell's.

Both Leclerc and Ferrari were handed a warning in Barcelona after the Monegasque driver impeded Nico Hulkenberg.

"Car 27 was closing in on Car 16 while being on an in lap. Car 16 was passing Car 44 at a slow speed when Car 27 was approaching and thereby slightly impeded Car 27. There was no warning to the driver from the team. The team representative explained during the hearing that such warning will just be given to the driver when a car on a push lap is approaching," the stewards explained.

Up next in Barcelona is qualifying on the Formula 1 schedule. Follow the session with GPblog's live blog here!