Spanish GP: Hamilton quickest in FP3, Ocon crashes
Lewis Hamilton edged Valtteri Bottas in final practice for Formula 1's 2020 Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, which was ended early following Renault driver Esteban Ocon crashing behind Kevin Magnussen.


Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull ahead of McLaren's Carlos Sainz.
The 60-minute session built to a crescendo after a fairly lifeless start, with Hamilton finally going quicker than his Mercedes team-mate on his final qualifying simulation as the track grip increased.
It took almost 10 minutes for a time to be set as the teams back-loaded their running on the scorched asphalt, which by this point at reached 44 degrees.
Lando Norris set the initial pace on the medium tyres with a 1m19.620s, with Kimi Raikkonen, Sainz and Charles Leclerc then bringing the benchmark down – but only the Alfa Romeo driver ran the soft tyres at this stage.
Approaching the halfway point, the Mercedes drivers appeared on the red-walled softs, with Bottas immediately taking the top spot with a 1m17.971s, with Hamilton following him on the same tyre and going 0.353s slower with a slight lock-up the meant he missed the left apex at the final chicane.
Hamilton cut the gap to 0.106s on his second run, with Bottas abandoning his own second lap after a slow first sector.
But after several drivers – including Sainz – gained a chunk of time as the grip increased in the final stages, the session's fastest times were set in the closing stages.
Bottas initially improved P1 to a 1m17.373s, but Hamilton gained significantly in the second sector – neither Mercedes driver troubled the quickest times in the opening part of the lap as they worked to keep the softs alive at the end – on his own final qualifying simulation.
Hamilton ended up with a 1m17.222s to head Bottas by 0.151s.
Verstappen had slotted into third each time he went for a run on the softs, eventually trialling Hamilton by 0.515s.
Sainz's final effort had started the run of quick times at the end and he was shuffled down as a result, but only to fourth, with Racing Point's Sergio Perez taking fifth after only moving to the softs from the mediums for a final flying lap in the closing stages.
Leclerc ended up sixth for Ferrari ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, with Alex Albon ninth in the second Red Bull – 0.6s slower than Verstappen.
Like the Racing Point cars, Albon only ran the soft tyres towards the end of the session after starting out on the mediums.
Daniel Riccardo rounded out the top 10 ahead of his team-mate Ocon, who brought the session to an end with two minutes still to run after his bizarre crash at the exit of Turn 3.
Ocon had just been overtaken by Magnussen – who ended up 17th for Haas – when the Danish driver appeared to slow on the exit of the long right hander and drift to the middle of the track just as the Renault racer was accelerating to the same point.
At the last moment, Ocon avoided hitting Magnussene's car, but in doing so he speared right and went straight into the wall on the inside of the track, smashing his front wing off, damaging his rear wing as the car came around and bringing out the red flags when he came to a stop.
The incident is being investigated by the stewards and the drivers have been summoned to see the officials at 1.30pm local time.
In the other Haas, Romain Grosjean could not repeat his high placings from Friday practice, which he was unable to explain, as he finished 13th behind Sebastian Vettel.
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | |
![]() |
Mercedes | 12 | 1'17.222 | |
2 | |
![]() |
Mercedes | 13 | 1'17.373 | 0.151 |
3 | |
![]() |
Red Bull | 10 | 1'17.737 | 0.515 |
4 | |
![]() |
McLaren | 18 | 1'18.046 | 0.824 |
5 | |
![]() |
Racing Point | 16 | 1'18.096 | 0.874 |
6 | |
![]() |
Ferrari | 15 | 1'18.193 | 0.971 |
7 | |
![]() |
AlphaTauri | 13 | 1'18.211 | 0.989 |
8 | |
![]() |
Racing Point | 16 | 1'18.309 | 1.087 |
9 | |
![]() |
Red Bull | 13 | 1'18.371 | 1.149 |
10 | |
![]() |
Renault | 12 | 1'18.384 | 1.162 |
11 | |
![]() |
Renault | 18 | 1'18.602 | 1.380 |
12 | |
![]() |
Ferrari | 15 | 1'18.707 | 1.485 |
13 | |
![]() |
Haas | 14 | 1'18.710 | 1.488 |
14 | |
![]() |
Alfa Romeo | 11 | 1'18.721 | 1.499 |
15 | |
![]() |
McLaren | 23 | 1'18.803 | 1.581 |
16 | |
![]() |
AlphaTauri | 15 | 1'18.852 | 1.630 |
17 | |
![]() |
Haas | 15 | 1'18.940 | 1.718 |
18 | |
![]() |
Alfa Romeo | 13 | 1'19.175 | 1.953 |
19 | |
![]() |
Williams | 16 | 1'19.297 | 2.075 |
20 | |
![]() |
Williams | 16 | 1'19.764 | 2.542 |
View full results |

Mercedes "in better shape" managing tyre temperatures
No further action in bizarre Ocon/Magnussen incident

Latest news
Every driver racing in the 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour
The full entry list for the 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour, including 84 drivers from around the world, has been unveiled.
UPDATED: Auer suffers back injury in Rolex 24 practice shunt
Mercedes driver Lucas Auer has suffered a back injury following a violent crash in opening practice for this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Team 18 explains Gen3 collaboration
Team 18 has outlined its recent collaboration with rival Supercars teams as they look to complete their frantic Gen3 builds.
Rolex 24: Porsche leads Acura in night practice at Daytona
Matt Campbell put the #7 Penske Porsche Motorsports 963 on top in third practice for the Rolex 24 Hours, just 0.172sec ahead of Filipe Albuquerque in the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06.
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? Luke Smith asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
What difference did F1's fastest pitstops of 2022 make?
While a quick pitstop can make all the difference to the outcome of a Formula 1 race, most team managers say consistency is more important than pure speed. MATT KEW analyses the fastest pitstops from last season to see which ones – if any – made a genuine impact
When F1 'holiday' races kept drivers busy through the winter
Modern Formula 1 fans have grown accustomed to a lull in racing during winter in the northern hemisphere. But, as MAURICE HAMILTON explains, there was a time when teams headed south of the equator rather than bunkering down in the factory. And why not? There was fun to be had, money to be made and reputations to forge…
What Porsche social media frenzy says about F1’s manufacturer allure
Porsche whipped up a frenzy thanks to a cryptic social media post last week, and though it turned out to be a false alarm, it also highlighted more just why manufacturers remain such an important element in terms of the attraction that they bring to F1. It is little wonder that several other manufacturers are bidding for a slice of the action.
Why new Williams F1 boss shouldn't avoid 'Mercedes B-team' comparisons
OPINION: Williams has moved to replace the departed Jost Capito by appointing former Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles as its new team principal. But while he has sought to play down the idea of moulding his new squad into a vision of his old one, some overlap is only to be expected and perhaps shouldn't be shied away from
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.