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Warning for Antonelli
The race stewards’ verdict is in, and the championship leader gets away with a warning. It literally states:
“Car 12 was disturbed by Car 18 on the approach to Turn 1. After overtaking Car 18, the driver of Car 12 applied the brakes in front of Car 18, preventing it from re-overtaking. This is considered unpredictable driving behaviour.”
“The driver admitted during the hearing that he acted out of frustration and apologised for his behaviour.”
Read more Formula 1 live ticker: Qualifying in Barcelona live
Vowles: Monaco situation a “mess”
James Vowles revealed to Sky that he would support a protest from McLaren and Red Bull. “It doesn’t really affect us personally,” the Williams team boss emphasised.
Nevertheless, he asks: “What do you do with George [Russell]? What do you do with Piastri, who should have been on the podium under these circumstances?”
“That’s the mess I’m not comfortable with,” said Vowles.
Bottas’s off-track excursion …
… is available here again in the video. Of course, it’s not exactly helpful for confidence, especially before qualifying, if the brakes suddenly fail. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Cadillac finds the problem.
Fine for Aston Martin
Lance Stroll was clocked at 85.9 km/h instead of the permitted 80 km/h in the pit lane during FT3. This results in a fine of 600 Euros for Aston Martin. At least not an overshoot of 0.1 km/h, otherwise we would have been nervous again after Monaco…
Read more Formula 1 live ticker: The qualifying in Barcelona live
Advantage Russell?
Sky‘s experts clearly see George Russell as the favourite in qualifying later. “I think he knew before arriving that this track would suit his driving style a little better than his teammate’s,” says Jacques Villeneuve.
“Antonelli’s driving style is well suited for tracks with many stop-and-go sections,” explains the 1997 world champion, adding: “This track tends strongly towards understeer, but at the same time, the rear breaks out.”
“Russell has a smoother driving style, and that comes into its own here,” says Villeneuve. And Karun Chandhok explains: “One thing is clear: you can’t drive this track at 100 percent. The tyres won’t last.”
Russell benefits from his experience here, he suspects. “George knows exactly what he needs to do to put in a qualifying lap,” says Chandhok. Antonelli still lacks this knowledge.
Investigations
There are two investigations after FT3. Kimi Antonelli has to answer for an action in Turn 2, and Charles Leclerc for impeding Nico Hülkenberg at the end. We’ll keep an eye on it, of course.
FT3 Overview
Report
Result
Photos: F1: Grand Prix of Barcelona (Spain) 2026
Open Session Ticker now!
The third and final practice session in Barcelona begins in ten minutes. We are therefore moving the action to our session ticker for now. So there’s a short break here, and after the end of practice, we’ll continue as normal at this point.
And if you want to know how you can watch Formula 1 live this weekend, you can find out here!
Read more «Free lap time»: Why Williams is already planning for 2027