Third Free Practice Report & Results 2025 Spanish F1 Grand Prix

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Catalunya Circuit

Weather:  dry  30°C
Tarmac: dry  46°C
Humidity: 37%
Wind: 6.4 km/h West

Piastri Dominates Scorching FP3 in Barcelona as McLaren Turns Up the Heat

Report from Final Practice at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix

McLaren Leave Rivals in the Dust

Oscar Piastri sent a message loud and clear during FP3 for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix: Catch me if you can. Under the sweltering Catalan sun, the Australian looked absolutely untouchable, throwing down a blistering 1m 12.387s lap that left the field dazed and confused—especially his own teammate.

Lando Norris, fresh from his Monaco high, couldn't match the precision of Piastri’s lap. After a mistake on his first run, Norris improved on his second—but still ended up half a second adrift. That’s right. Half a second. Around a track every driver knows like the back of their racing gloves.

A Mixed Bag Behind the Papaya Power

Take away the two McLarens, and you’d have a mouth-watering midfield scrap. Charles Leclerc ended the session in third, albeit a whopping seven tenths off the pace. Just 0.009s separated him from George Russell in fourth, while Max Verstappen had to settle for fifth, only 0.007s ahead of rookie sensation Hadjar.

Yes, that’s how tight it was—at least behind the McLaren curtain.

Behind them, we saw promising signs from Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hülkenberg, the latter squeezing everything out of his Kick Sauber to sit just outside the top 10. His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, meanwhile, showed his raw speed again, going P11—just 0.009s ahead of Hülkenberg.

In fact, strip away the orange cars and the remaining 16 drivers from P3 to P18 were separated by just one second. Gloriously close stuff.

Mercedes and Ferrari Still Searching

George Russell showed some fight for Mercedes with a solid lap early on, but Kimi Antonelli looked oddly out of sorts. He could only muster P7, and reported gearbox issues as the session wound down. That’s not what you want to hear before Qualifying.

Ferrari? Leclerc's time flattered the car. Behind him, Lewis Hamilton was fighting tooth and nail just to flirt with the top 10, despite running softs. He'll be hoping there's more performance lurking in the SF-25 before Q1.

Red Bull in Data Mode, Not Attack Mode

Verstappen briefly led the times on fresh softs midway through the session, but it didn’t last long. His lap lacked the edge we’re used to seeing, and P5 won’t be a comfortable place for the reigning champ heading into Qualifying.

The mood in the Red Bull garage was more analytical than aggressive. With McLaren soaring, the Milton Keynes squad seemed more interested in studying their deficit than trying to mask it.

Rookie Watch: Bortoleto & Antonelli Impress Again

Bortoleto and Antonelli once again punched above their weight. The Brazilian rookie continues to shine in his debut season, while Antonelli—on used tyres no less—managed a very respectable lap to go P2 early in the session.

Both drivers are giving their more experienced teammates headaches, and that's exactly what the sport needs: fresh talent with fearless pace.

Trouble at Williams, Concerns for Hamilton

While Alex Albon showed some pace to run in the top 10 earlier on, a late-session issue saw him confined to the garage. Williams engineers will be hoping it’s nothing serious.

Hamilton, as mentioned, sounded frustrated with his gearbox towards the end of the session. Ferrari-powered gearbox woes? Let’s hope not.

The Heat is On—Literally

Track temps soared to 47°C as the session progressed, pushing Pirelli’s hardest compounds to their limits. The C1-C3 selection seemed to play into the hands of Mercedes and Red Bull, who usually suffer more under thermal stress—but McLaren simply laughed in the face of temperature and stuck it on top anyway.

Could this be Miami 2.0, where McLaren runs away with it? If the gaps from FP3 hold, don’t bet against it.

What to Expect in Qualifying?

Q3 will be brutal. With the gaps so tight from P3 down, even a tenth of a second could mean the difference between a second-row start or a painful Q2 exit. But the real question is—can anyone stop Oscar Piastri?

Right now, it’s looking like Norris is the only one with a shot. But even he might need to dig deeper than ever before to deny his teammate a front-row lockout.

One thing’s for sure: Barcelona is about to bring the heat in more ways than one.

Stay tuned. Qualifying is going to be a scorcher.

FP3 Times Table 2025 Spanish GP

The quickest sector times during this third practice session were:

• Sector 1: 21.443 sec by Oscar Piastri with the McLaren MCL39.
• Sector 2: 28.990 sec by Oscar Piastri with the McLaren MCL39.
• Sector 3: 21.954 sec by Oscar Piastri with the McLaren MCL39.

Last year the quickest lap time of FP3 was a 1:13,013 min, driven by Carlos Sainz with the Ferrari SF-24.

✅ Check out our 2025 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview.

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