Verstappen faster before the rain in the third test

Today’s rain forecast has been confirmed at the Montmelo circuit in the third practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, the seventh Formula 1 race of the year, and all indications are that the weather will remain that way for the qualifying tests that start (3/06) at 17:00.

With rain approaching the track, a line of cars formed on the pit line shortly before the green light – unusual for a third test session. Basically, all drivers had the opportunity to write one fast lap, and from this the final classification was derived.

It all happened in the first eight minutes, and those on the second-fastest lap at the time missed the opportunity to complete it as the exit of Logan Sargeant in the Williams at the final corner stalled his car in the sand trap (after light contact with the barrier), bringing out the red flags.

The pause lasted a few minutes, but during that time it started raining in Montmelo. Although the rain was very light, the runway was already wet enough to require intermediate rain tires.

As a result, after the Williams removed the sand trap and reopened the green light at the pit exit, all the drivers stayed in their garages – except for Lando Norris who came out for a lap to test the grip of the intermediate tire, especially on the confines of the paint-covered track.

With about 20 minutes to go, Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari SF-23 opened the action on the track again, followed by almost all of the drivers. Although the runway appeared to be dry, and the cars did not leave spray behind, in practice the rain continued and conditions required the use of intermediate rain tires.

George Russell and Fernando Alonso were the first to try the slicks (with soft rubber) about 10 minutes from the end, and other drivers followed – but conditions did not allow the times to deteriorate from the initial efforts, nor did the rain, even with the slick tyres.

So Max Verstappen stayed on pole until the end, one-tenth and a half ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull RB19 and four-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton – who predicted yesterday that the Mercedes W14 doesn’t have the speed here to be so sure he’ll be able to make it to the quarter the third and reaching the top ten at the start.

The two Ferraris followed in about the same tenth, Alonso with the Aston Martin and Russell with the other Mercedes, while yesterday’s fast Alps stayed away because Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly made their first laps on the medium tyre, rather than the soft of all. 18 other drivers.