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Antonelli fastest again in crash-hit final practice / Photo: © AFP
Antonelli fastest again in crash-hit final practice
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed on top for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Saturday's extended crash-hit third and final practice ahead of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old Italian clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.797 seconds to outpace the Monegasque by 0.166 seconds ahead of both McLarens in a session that saw seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton slam into the barriers in the second Ferrari.
Hamilton's crash led to a red flag stoppage that lasted 54 minutes and rendered an extra quarter of an hour added, as the drivers' continued to explore the limits of the new high-risk Madring circuit, dubbed a 'car-killer' in many quarters.
In the end, Antonelli's pure talent took him clear again with Leclerc second ahead of Oscar Piastri and world champion Lando Norris with four-time champion Max Verstappen taking fifth for Red Bull in the final minutes.
George Russell was sixth in the second Mercedes, seven-tenths off his team-mate's pace, ahead of Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull, Nico Hulkenberg of Audi, Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto in the second Audi.
After a crash-free opening hour on Friday, the second produced one crash – for Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad, who returned to take 14th place, and the third delivered two as Oliver Bearman also hit the barriers in his Haas in the final minute.
After a slow start, Ferrari had joined the fray on softs and clocked immediate fastest laps before a hasty Hamilton slammed into the barriers.
The 41-year-old Briton locked up at the final corner after 24 minutes, breaking his front wing which was stuck under the car as he reversed successfully and began to return to the pits. The session was red-flagged.
Race engineer Carlo Santi realised and asked him to "stop in the safest place possible" but Hamilton was not keen to obey. He replied, saying "if I can make it back, I will. If not, I will do it safely".
Told he had a right front puncture and told again to stop, he finally pulled up, knowing he had ignored orders, driven in an unsafe condition and probably faced a penalty. It was, he knew, a bad incident for him.
With 15 minutes remaining, Race Control stopped the timer to allow a final quarter of an hour action once repairs were completed.
This was a rare occurrence as F1 does not usually allow for additional time, except for qualifying sessions, but it guaranteed a frantic finale for a sell-out crowd basking in the sun with the young Italian jousting with Leclerc.
A.S. Leite--JDB
