Third Free Practice Report & Results 2026 Spanish F1 Grand Prix

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Madring circuit

Weather: Dry, sunny & clear 24°C / 75°F
Tarmac: dry 44°C / 111°F
Humidity: 43%
Wind: 0.0 km/h
Pressure: 943 mbar

Antonelli Tops Chaotic Madring FP3 Before Qualifying

Kimi Antonelli kept Mercedes on top at the Madring by setting the fastest time in a heavily disrupted final practice session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. The championship leader clocked a 1:32.797 to beat Charles Leclerc by 0.166s, with Oscar Piastri third, as crashes for Lewis Hamilton and Oliver Bearman repeatedly interrupted the field's final preparations for qualifying.

Mercedes have now topped every practice session at Formula 1's new Madrid venue. George Russell led FP1 before Antonelli took over in FP2 and FP3, but Saturday's chaotic final hour left considerably more uncertainty over the true qualifying order than the timing screen might suggest.

Antonelli delivers when FP3 finally comes alive

The session started slowly, with most teams deliberately waiting for conditions to become more representative of qualifying before committing their soft tyres. Once the track became busier, Ferrari immediately showed its hand.

Leclerc initially went fastest before Hamilton moved ahead, while Antonelli and Lando Norris quickly joined the fight. The Mercedes driver then posted a 1:33.664 to take provisional P1, only for Leclerc to answer with a 1:33.332 shortly before Hamilton's accident interrupted proceedings.

When FP3 eventually resumed, the track had evolved considerably and drivers had little time to waste. Antonelli responded best.

The Italian pushed closer to the barriers and lowered the benchmark to a 1:32.797, finding more than half a second compared with his earlier effort. Leclerc improved but remained 0.166s adrift, while Piastri climbed into third during the frantic closing stages.

It was another accomplished performance from Antonelli, who has looked increasingly comfortable around the Madring as the weekend has developed. More importantly for Mercedes, the car has remained competitive through every phase of running so far.

Hamilton crash triggers lengthy stoppage

Hamilton's session came to an early end at the final corner.

The Ferrari driver locked up under braking and went straight into the barriers, damaging his front wing. The impact was not especially heavy and Hamilton managed to reverse away before attempting to drive back towards the pits.

Ferrari repeatedly instructed him to stop.

With the damaged front wing trapped underneath the car, the team eventually convinced Hamilton to park rather than risk continuing in an unsafe condition. His FP3 was over, but the consequences lasted considerably longer.

Repairing the barrier proved unexpectedly difficult. Officials struggled to return it to precisely the correct position and, with valuable practice time disappearing, Race Control eventually stopped the session clock with 15 minutes and 38 seconds remaining.

That decision at least ensured the drivers would have an opportunity for further running once the circuit reopened, but the lengthy interruption badly disrupted almost everyone's qualifying preparation.

Bearman crash brings another red flag

The restart produced exactly what might have been expected: a queue at the end of the pit lane and a scramble for clear track.

Fresh soft tyres appeared across much of the field as drivers attempted to complete the qualifying simulations denied to them earlier. Antonelli set his fastest time, Leclerc stayed firmly in contention and Piastri moved McLaren into the top three.

Then Bearman brought the session to another abrupt halt.

The Haas driver lost the rear around Turns 10 and 11, spun and struck the barriers before sliding along them. The damage was substantial, with one wheel ending up displaced above the car, although Bearman was able to climb out unaided.

He immediately apologised to the team, who were left facing a major repair job ahead of qualifying.

The timing was particularly painful for Haas. Esteban Ocon had again shown promising pace and Bearman himself had been running competitively before the accident, continuing the team's encouraging Madring weekend.

Ferrari's pace comes with a price

Leclerc's second place confirmed that Ferrari remain genuine contenders at the front.

The Monegasque had held provisional P1 before the final runs and again looked capable of challenging Mercedes over a single lap. Ferrari's underlying speed has been evident throughout the weekend, but so has the difficulty of extracting it cleanly.

Hamilton's crash was the most expensive example so far.

Both Ferrari drivers had already experienced lock-ups and off-track moments on Friday, and the car has consistently appeared less forgiving than the Mercedes when pushed towards the limit.

Leclerc heads into qualifying with obvious pace. Hamilton heads there with considerably less preparation than planned.

Norris wastes little time catching up

Lando Norris entered FP3 needing to recover from a miserable Friday afternoon after a gearbox problem restricted him to just an out-lap and an in-lap during FP2.

His response was impressive.

Norris quickly produced competitive times despite having far fewer laps around the Madring than most of his rivals. At one stage he climbed to second, just 0.070s behind Leclerc, and produced the fastest final sector despite it being only his third flying lap of the day.

A sizeable slide later prevented further improvement, but Norris had already demonstrated that his lost Friday mileage may not be as damaging as initially feared.

Piastri reinforced McLaren's potential by eventually finishing third, leaving the team firmly in the conversation heading into qualifying even if the interrupted nature of FP3 makes its ultimate pace difficult to judge.

Williams suffer costly final practice

Williams had problems of their own.

Alex Albon clipped the wall with his rear-left tyre early in the session. The contact appeared relatively harmless at first, but inspection revealed a damaged track rod and his running was over.

Carlos Sainz also came close to joining him on the sidelines. The Spaniard locked up at Turn 7 and went straight into the run-off area, stopping just short of the barriers before reversing out and continuing.

Williams had already struggled with rear-end stability on Friday, and FP3 again demonstrated how little margin drivers have once they begin attacking the Madring properly.

Lindblad finally returns after chassis change

Racing Bulls faced a different race against time after Arvid Lindblad's heavy FP2 accident forced the team to change his chassis overnight.

The rookie was unable to join the opening part of FP3 while mechanics completed the rebuild, but the long Hamilton stoppage unexpectedly reduced the cost of that delay.

Lindblad eventually made it onto the circuit after the restart and recovered at least some valuable running before qualifying.

That mattered after his impressive Friday pace. Lindblad had been fourth-fastest in FP2 before crashing at Turn 13, showing that Racing Bulls have genuine speed around Madrid if their drivers can keep the car away from the walls.

Traffic remains a qualifying concern

The Madring's other persistent problem also returned: traffic.

Norris impeded Pierre Gasly late in the session after abandoning his own lap, prompting an angry response from the Alpine driver. It was another addition to a growing list of awkward encounters across the weekend.

With blind approaches, narrow sections and few obvious places for drivers to move aside, creating a gap without obstructing somebody else has proved consistently difficult.

That could become particularly important in Q1, when all 20 cars will be fighting for track position and tyre preparation at the same time.

At a circuit where one mistake can already end a lap against the wall, being sent into traffic could be equally costly.

Antonelli leads, but qualifying remains unpredictable

On paper, Mercedes could hardly have asked for more from practice.

Russell topped FP1, Antonelli led FP2 and the Italian returned to the top in FP3. No other team has yet finished a session fastest at the Madring.

But Saturday's final practice offered little certainty beyond that headline.

Leclerc remains within striking distance, Piastri has brought McLaren into the top three, Norris recovered remarkably quickly from his lost Friday running and several drivers never completed the clean qualifying simulation they wanted.

Hamilton's crash disrupted the first half of the session. Bearman's accident disrupted the end. Traffic complicated the laps in between.

Mercedes have owned every practice benchmark so far, but FP3 left the fight for pole far more open than the results suggest.

Antonelli carries the fastest lap into qualifying. Now the Madring gets serious.

Meta title: Antonelli Tops Chaotic 2026 Spanish GP FP3

Meta description: Kimi Antonelli topped FP3 at Madrid's Madring ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri as crashes for Hamilton and Bearman disrupted final practice.

FP3 Times Table 2026 Spanish GP

The quickest sector times during this third practice session were:

• Sector 1: 28.637 sec by Nico Hulkenberg with the Audi R26.
• Sector 2: 33.051 sec by Lewis Hamilton with the Ferrari SF-26.
• Sector 3: 30.765 sec by Lando Norris with the McLaren MCL40.

There is no previous FP3 fastest lap time, as this was the first-ever Formula 1 practice session at the Madring. The quickest laptime in FP2 was a 1:33.662 also set by Kimi Antonelli with the Mercedes.

✅ Check out our 2026 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview.

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Championship form and recent form. The starting grid joins in after qualifying, then the chances update.

1Kimi AntonelliMercedes · #1237%to win

2Max VerstappenRed Bull · #314%to win

3George RussellMercedes · #639.5%to win

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All 22 drivers: win, podium and points chances

#	Driver	Win	Podium	Points	Why
1	Kimi AntonelliMercedes	37%	80%	100%	P1 in the championship · 4 podiums in the last 5
2	Max VerstappenRed Bull	14%	46%	98%	P4 in the championship · 5 podiums in the last 5
3	George RussellMercedes	9.5%	32%	95%	P2 in the championship · 2 podiums in the last 5
4	Charles LeclercFerrari	8.2%	28%	93%	P5 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
5	Lewis HamiltonFerrari	7.7%	29%	93%	P3 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
6	Lando NorrisMcLaren	6.8%	23%	88%	P6 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
7	Oscar PiastriMcLaren	3.6%	14%	74%	P7 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
8	Isack HadjarRed Bull	3.2%	11%	66%	P8 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5
9	Liam LawsonRacing Bulls	1.6%	6.7%	47%	P9 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
10	Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls	1.2%	4.8%	36%	P11 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
11	Nico HülkenbergAudi	0.9%	3.4%	26%	P14 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
12	Pierre GaslyAlpine	0.8%	2.8%	25%	P10 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
13	Esteban OconHaas	0.8%	2.5%	21%	P18 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
14	Franco ColapintoAlpine	0.8%	2.9%	22%	P12 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 2 DNFs
15	Oliver BearmanHaas	0.7%	2.8%	22%	P13 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
16	Carlos SainzWilliams	0.5%	2.1%	16%	P17 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
17	Gabriel BortoletoAudi	0.5%	2.0%	16%	P15 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
18	Valtteri BottasCadillac	0.4%	1.4%	12%	P22 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
19	Fernando AlonsoAston Martin	0.4%	1.7%	14%	P16 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 2 DNFs
20	Lance StrollAston Martin	0.4%	1.4%	11%	P23 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 4 DNFs
21	Alex AlbonWilliams	0.4%	1.4%	12%	P19 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 3 DNFs
22	Sergio PérezCadillac	0.4%	1.3%	13%	P21 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF

Podium = chance of a top-three finish, Points = chance of a top-ten. Rounded; the win column adds up to 100%.

Season standings · 2026

PThe Predictormodel38 pts

1An Sionnach37 pts

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5Jere Jyrälä18 pts

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8yhee10 pts

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10Kasra8 pts

11bearman's7 pts

12Mo6 pts

13Raceworks Media6 pts

14Rahmi Can6 pts

15Killabee6 pts

16Carlo6 pts

17MKL6 pts

18Sudhjd6 pts

19Tori Green6 pts

20Marcos Torres Barker6 pts

How the Predictor works

No bookmakers, no odds: every number comes from the F1-Fansite results database. Each driver gets a strength score from the factors below; the race is then simulated 10,000 times and we count how often each driver wins, finishes on the podium or scores points. It does not know about weather or reliability, and it says so. Grid penalties count as soon as the official starting grid is in.

60%Championship formPoints this season, relative to the leader.

40%Recent formThe last five finishes; a DNF counts as P20.

0%Starting gridHow often each grid slot has won over the last eight seasons. Joins after qualifying.

Before qualifying the model is honest about the odds: three or four candidates share most of the chance. After qualifying the grid takes over and the call sharpens.

12/17winners called

1.9/3podium drivers per race

2exact podiums

70prediction points

Calibration this season: when it said 7%, it happened 0% of the time; when it said 15%, it happened 7% of the time.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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