Piastri on top in final Spanish GP practice
Formula One leader Oscar Piastri was fastest in final Spanish Grand Prix practice on Saturday with McLaren teammate Lando Norris making it a dominant one-two at the top of the timesheets.
Piastri's fastest time of 1:12.387 seconds completed a sweep of practice for the reigning champions and was a strong statement of intent for later qualifying.
The Australian was also fastest in Friday's second session while Norris, winner in Monaco last Sunday, set the pace in the first.
Norris, three points off the lead after eight of 24 races, was 0.526 slower than the Australian as McLaren shrugged off tighter front wing flex tests introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The Briton made a mistake on one quick lap that would otherwise have put him much closer to Piastri.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Rookies Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antonelli were sixth and seventh for Racing Bulls and Mercedes respectively with local hero and double world champion Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin but 1.027 slower than Piastri.
Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner a record-equalling six times in Spain but complaining on Friday that the car was 'not driveable', was ninth after another difficult session.
"Downshifts are not working properly, mate. Something's wrong with the gear shift," the Briton complained over the team radio.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Alviro Petersen warns Proteas: Australia a different kettle of fish in Lord's World Test Championship final
Ryan Rickelton Proteas openers Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram must prepare accordingly for the Duke ball at Lord's. Photo: BackpagePix Image: BackpagePix ONE of the biggest questions that the South African batters will need to have answers for in the World Test Championship final is the slope at Lord's. Can the Proteas batters see out the Australian quicks with the slope at the famous London ground? Former Proteas Test opener Alviro Petersen, having played at Lord's, feels that Ryan Rickelton, who will open the batting with Aiden Markram, should have no problems with the slope, given that he plays at the Wanderers, where there is one as well. Petersen highlighted the importance of playing straight in England as an opening batter due to the conditions. 'I think Rickleton will be okay in terms of the slope because he plays at the Wanderers, where there's a slope. That will help him, or at least it will give him some sort of confidence to play on the slope,' Petersen told Independent Media. 'From a technical point of view, it's important, especially in England, that you look to play in the V early on. 'Now, remember if the dismissals are not caught behind, like in South Africa, where guys generally bowl slightly wide outside off-stump because of the bounce and trying to get you to play through the covers and then nick off. 'In England, they're going to bowl quite straighter lines. 'So, you know, that's the reality. Australia are not going to give you a lot of bad deliveries. 'You have to almost hit good deliveries of boundaries or see out good spells. So, that's the reality that they're up against. 'Australia would have done their homework already. 'If Rickleton plays square of the wicket, guys, we're not going to give him anything. 'We're going to protect the square, but also, we're going to protect the straight (boundaries). We're going to ask him to do different things now.' While the whole world critiqued South Africa's journey to the final at Lord's for not facing Australia and England in the cycle, Petersen believes that the Proteas deserve all the credit. However, the former Test opener warned that the Australian bowling attack will be a lot more difficult to contend with. 'We have to give them credit... they've played off the back foot. They came back and won games. Those are important things. You can take that confidence into the World Test Championship final,' said Petersen. 'However, Australia will be a different kettle of fish. Australia play differently. They might not give you a lot of opportunities like other teams would. 'But that's the reality, that South Africa have won those games. 'Whether you play against minor teams or teams that people think are minor, it's still Test cricket, and they've won those games. 'So, I think they can use that confidence and take it into the World Test Championship final. But it's not going to be easy.'
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
'Proud' Piastri extends championship lead with Spanish GP victory
Oscar Piastri drove with exemplary calm and control in a torrid race on Sunday to beat rival and team-mate Lando Norris as McLaren claimed a first Spanish Grand Prix victory since 2005 with a resounding 1-2 triumph. The 24-year-old Australian came home 2.4 seconds clear of Norris to extend his lead in the drivers' championship to 10 points with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finishing third after a dramatic finale. Four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull went for a three-stop strategy that resulted in him losing third place in the final laps before being handed a 10-second penalty for crashing into Mercedes' George Russell who finished fourth. It was Piastri's fifth win of the season and the seventh win of his career – and his eighth consecutive podium finish for McLaren, a feat that had only been achieved before by three-time champion Ayrton Senna and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. Nico Hulkenberg was fifth, from 15th on the grid, for Sauber ahead of Hamilton in a Ferrari, Racing Bulls' rookie Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly of Alpine. Two-time champion and local hero Fernando Alonso finished ninth for Aston Martin with Verstappen classified 10th after his bruising late incidents which prompted 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg to suggest he deserved to be black-flagged and disqualified. - 'Great weekend' - "It was a bit of a surprise to see Max try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him," said Piastri. "But it's been a great weekend overall. The overall pace was really good and we could turn it on when we needed to – and I am just very proud of the work we've done this weekend. "It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. It's been a superb weekend." Monaco winner Norris started second but ceded his position to Verstappen on the first lap before battling back to follow his teammate home. "Oscar drove a very good race today," said Norris. "I didn't quite have the pace to match him. We gave it our best shot. It's a long race and anything could have happened at the end of the race. "We both got pretty sideways with the safety car restart. It was a good, fun race and for us as a team to finish one-two is even better." Leclerc said he was encouraged to attack Verstappen when he realised he had been given hards for the late re-start that followed a Safety Car intervention, while he was on softs. "When the engineers told me that Max was going on a hard tyre for the last stint, I was very optimistic because I knew how bad the hard was," he said. "That's when I knew I needed to have a good restart. Luckily, there was an opportunity. AFP | Pierre-Philippe MARCOU "It was a battle for track position to get the slipstream from the guys in front. Max wanted to bring me towards the inside where there was all the rubber, so I didn't want to go there. "I was trying to push him to the left, there was a little bit of contact. Fortunately, for us there were no consequences.'
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
Verstappen punished after ramming into Russell
Max Verstappen clattered into a fresh controversy on Sunday when stewards ruled he rammed rival George Russell in the closing laps of an eventful Spanish Grand Prix. The incident happened shortly after racing restarted with five laps left following a safety car. Verstappen immediately lost third to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and then went off the track as he tried to hold off Russell's Mercedes. Verstappen's Red Bull team told their driver to hand the place to Russell, the Dutchman appeared about to do that as he slowed into turn five with two laps left. Instead he speared into the Mercedes. Stewards handed the Dutchman a 10-second penalty and he finished 10th. He said later that he was unhappy at the way Leclerc had passed him and Russell had tried to overtake. The 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg told British broadcaster Sky that Verstappen should have been disqualified. "It looked like a very intentional retaliation," Roseberg said. "Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at turn one." "I think the rules would be a black flag, yes. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that's a black flag." After the race, Verstappen accused Leclerc of driving into him while overtaking and said Russell pushed him off track, forcing him to take to the escape road to retain fourth place. Verstappen did not deny that his move on Russell – with whom he was involved in a war of words last season – was deliberate. "Does it matter?" he said. "I prefer to speak about the race than just one single moment." Verstappen brushed aside talk of his defence of his drivers' title. "We are way too slow anyway to fight for the title. I think that was clear again today," he said. Asked by Sky whether his reputation being tarnished by the collisions and penalty, he said: "Is it? Well that's your opinion. We will leave it there." Russell said Verstappen's move remind him of video games. "I was as surprised as you guys were," he told reporters. "I've seen these manoeuvres before on simulator games and in go-karting, but never in F1. "Ultimately, we came home in P4 and he came home in P10. I don't know what was going through his mind. It felt deliberate in the moment so, yeah, it was a bit surprising. "It is down to the stewards to decide if its deliberate or not. Max is such an amazing driver and so many people look up to him. It's a shame that something like that continues to occur. It seems totally unnecessary and it never seems to benefit himself." Leclerc and Verstappen were both called to the stewards' office after the race to assist in more investigations into their collision.
