Antonelli owns Madrid final practice as Hamilton ends up in the barriers

The opening half-hour of FP3 in Madrid was dominated by Ferrari, but the session was ultimately brought to a standstill by a crash for Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc set the early benchmark with a 1:33.332, leading Kimi Antonelli by 0.332 seconds and Lando Norris by 0.767s. Hamilton had been running fourth before his accident, while Max Verstappen had yet to set a timed lap, leaving the Red Bull driver without a representative time as the session approached its halfway point.

Hamilton's accident proved to be the defining moment of the opening phase. The seven-time world champion went into the barriers head-on at the final corner, losing his front wing and triggering an immediate red flag.

He was able to continue initially, but the detached wing remained trapped underneath the Ferrari as he attempted to make his way back. After a lengthy exchange with the pit wall, he eventually stopped shortly after the Monumental corner, bringing his session to a premature end after completing only four laps.

With the clock stopped, attention quickly shifted from the timesheets to the recovery operation. Marshals began clearing the debris left by Hamilton's accident and removing his Ferrari from the circuit, while another group of workers focused on repairing the deformed barriers at the final corner.

With repairs to the barriers taking a considerable amount of time, the FIA decided to freeze the clock with 15 minutes remaining to ensure the drivers would have at least some final running before qualifying. It was an unusual decision, as the clock is not normally stopped during free practice sessions, unlike in qualifying.

At the restart, the drivers wasted little time in returning to the track, with just 15 minutes left to complete their final preparations ahead of qualifying. Times quickly began to tumble as the field switched its focus to performance runs on the soft tyres. Kimi Antonelli emerged on top with a 1:32.797, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.166 seconds, while Oscar Piastri moved into third just 0.189s off the Mercedes driver.

Lando Norris also improved to take fourth, 0.236s behind Antonelli, with Max Verstappen finally completing his first timed laps of the session and slotting into fifth, 0.375s off the pace. George Russell followed in sixth, ahead of Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg, while Hamilton remained ninth with the 1:34.284 he had set before his crash.

There was another crash in the closing stages, this time involving Oliver Bearman, who hit the barriers heavily. The impact left his participation in qualifying in serious doubt.