Kimi Antonelli absolutely dominated third practice at the Spanish Grand Prix on Madrid's new Madring circuit, setting the fastest time and proving Mercedes has got the pace to beat this weekend. The championship leader was nearly six-tenths clear of Lewis Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri rounding out the top three, while Max Verstappen could only manage fifth place. It's shaping up to be a proper battle for pole position come Saturday.

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Things didn't go smoothly for everyone though, especially Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver had a proper off at the barrier, damaging his car enough that he's now facing potential penalties. On top of that, there was chaos everywhere you looked. Arvid Lindblad also crashed hard into the barriers early on, wrecking his survival cell and forcing the team to prep a fresh car. Alex Albon tagged the wall and Carlos Sainz skidded off, coming within millimeters of the edge before stopping. Lando Norris also had a moment but kept it out of trouble.

The track itself has been a massive learning curve for everyone. There were 51 track limit violations just in FP2 alone, which tells you how tricky it is to get the circuit dialed in. The new Madring is developing rapidly throughout practice, so teams keep having to adjust their setups on the fly. Add in traffic on a tight track and you've got a perfect recipe for madness, especially with the fast lads all trying to find space at the same time.

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Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer highlighted that the track keeps evolving, which means teams need to be sharp with their setup changes. The temperatures were climbing too, with track surface reaching 44.4 degrees, making conditions even more challenging. Fred Vasseur noted that overtaking will be incredibly difficult here on Sunday, so nailing qualifying becomes absolutely crucial. If you can't pass, having good race pace won't matter one bit.

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As we head into qualifying, Mercedes looks strong with Antonelli up front, but Ferrari will be desperate to bounce back after their Monza disaster. McLaren are expected to up their game too. It's all set up nicely for a cracking fight for pole position, though the track chaos and penalty decisions could still shuffle things around before we know it.

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