FP3 Report: Hamilton tops FP3, but Verstappen closes the gap to Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has topped the final practice session ahead of Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton has put his marker down for qualifying later this afternoon as he looks to try and record his fourth consecutive win in Barcelona. His Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas finished second to complete Mercedes' practice 1-2 hatrick. Max Verstappen rounded out the top three. 

The Dutchman was strong in the final sector. He kept on recording purple sector times in last part of the lap giving Mercedes warning signs ahead of qualifying.

McLaren are in prime position to claim the best of the rest position this weekend, while Renault also look to challenge. After last week's P3 in qualifying, Racing Point spent much of the session in the mid-field but jumped up in the final stages of the session. That battle will be tight later in qualifying.

The session finished under red flags with Esteban Ocon crashing into the wall by trying to avoid Kevin Magnussen. 

RED FLAG

The session ends under a red flag after Esteban Ocon hits the wall

He appeared to swerve to avoid going into the back of Kevin Magnussen#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Y0WyAEe7Cx

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2020

How did it happen?

After his impressive performance on Friday, Romain Grosjean was the first driver out on the track. The Frenchman might be pushing for a Q3 appearance later this afternoon. He didn't have the most enjoyable FP3 and is much closer to his teammate today.

It was Lando Norris who set the first fastest time of the day. The Brit hasn't missed out on a Q3 session yet this season.

Fitted with some new engine components, Carlos Sainz went purple to set the new fastest time. A flurry of laps followed, which resulted in Leclerc taking control of the timesheets at the half-way point.

Mercedes didn't come out in the first half of the session. They only have two sets of medium tyres remaining in their allocation which they'll want to use in qualifying and potentially the race. Bottas and Hamilton hit the track on the soft tyres with 30 minutes remaining. Bottas set a time of 1:17.971 to go fastest. Hamilton tried to beat it, but he lost time in the final chicane.

Despite the usual Mercedes dominance, Carlos Sainz set a 1:18.046 to split the two Mercedes with 17 minutes of the session remaining.

Mercedes found another gear, and regained the top two places. But it seems as if Red Bull are much closer on this track, with Verstappen looking to challenge. 

The session ended under red flags with Esteban Ocon crashing. He tried to avoid a slow running Kevin Magnussen and had to quickly move out of the way. The Renault driver hit the wall.