Oscar Piastri leads the way in Barcelona ahead of qualifying
Oscar Piastri laid down an ominous marker to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after he finished half-a-second clear of the British driver in final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Piastri, who leads Norris by three points in the world championship, set the fastest time in practice at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Friday.
And the Australian led the way again on Saturday, ending the one-hour running 0.526 seconds ahead of Norris, who made a mistake on his hot lap, in the other McLaren.
McLaren have won six of the eight rounds so far, and their rivals might have hoped that a clampdown on flexible front wings – which some believe has contributed to the British team's rise – would slow them down.
However, the evidence of the rule tweak introduced for this race appears to have done little to influence McLaren's speed.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished 0.743 sec behind Piastri in third, one place ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, with world champion Max Verstappen fifth – albeit the best part of one second behind.
Lewis Hamilton's struggles continued after he finished ninth, 1.1 sec off the pace.
Qualifying gets under way at 16:00 local time (15:00 BST).
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Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
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It was a race won by Oscar Piastri with ice in his veins. It means the Australian is now clear favourite for the world title. He has won five of nine races this season. Linked, it indicates that Lando Norris is struggling to stay in the ring. His form is fragile. He is unable to piece together back-to-back wins. Up in Monaco last week, down in Barcelona this. Second meant he slipped 10 points behind Piastri in the other superlative McLaren. Perhaps time will help Norris – there are 14 races remaining – or will the nagging doubts grow horns? And the final of the three things this race suggested, is that we may be witnessing the end of the Verstappen dominance. Four times in four years, touched by the angels more than the devil, he has won the title. Once controversially, twice with sledgehammer-force, finally with grit that raised him beyond what ought to have been the limitations of his car. Now, he is 49 points off Piastri. You sense that frustration was crowding in on him. 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As of the championship situation: 'I never said that I was in a championship fight. Every race has been tough. When McLaren get their things right, they are unbeatable.' Will he speak to Russell? 'No, not necessary. I don't have anything to say.' Does he regret anything? 'In life you shouldn't regret too many things. No regrets.' That is fair up to a point. Elite sport is not a place for self-doubters. But conduct is important in the assessment of reputation and legacy, not least when you have a genius talent to protect and nurture. It was also another horror show for Lewis Hamilton (who, it should be noted, has never resorted to shady deeds on track). He was asked to let his faster team-mate Leclerc through, just as he was in China on the only previous occasion he out-qualified him. He was later passed by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and finished sixth. Leclerc claimed third place. 'I have no idea why it was so bad,' said Hamilton. 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The Sun
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