Barcelona (Reuters)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc confirmed his superiority in all free practice rounds for the Spanish Grand Prix, the sixth race of the current season, when he outperformed everyone in the third and final round today.
Leclerc from Monaco, who has a 19-point lead over Dutch world champion Max Verstappen in the drivers’ list, set the fastest time in the two rounds of testing on Friday, before confirming his supremacy at Circuit de Catalunya again today in sunny conditions.
Today, Leclerc clocked a time of one minute 19.772 seconds on smooth tyres, and was 0.072 seconds ahead of Verstappen, while Britain’s George Russell finished third for Mercedes, 0.148 seconds behind the leader.
Verstappen complained through his team’s circle of communication about the difficulty of moving the car into the fifth turn.
Mercedes’ British driver and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, 0.230 seconds ahead of Leclerc, after his car underwent some modifications to improve performance and enhance stability on the straights.
Spain’s Carlos Sainz, Ferrari’s second, set the fifth fastest time of the race after changing his chassis last night due to a fuel system problem, while Mexican Sergio Perez finished sixth for Red Bull.
A fire broke out in the rear brakes on the right of German Mick Schumacher’s car before race supervisors and Haas team officials rushed to help.
Alpha Tauri’s French driver Pierre Gasly failed to set a time during the race after his car came to a standstill and smoke billowed from its engine shortly after the start of the race.
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