Verstappen fifth in final free practice in Madrid

Published on 12 September 2026 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen finished fifth in the third free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix. The session was interrupted for a long time after Lewis Hamilton went off, meaning Max could only set a quick lap in the final fifteen minutes. With a time of 1:33.172, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver was eventually 0.375 seconds slower than Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes, who set the fastest time. Charles Leclerc finished P2, with Oscar Piastri in P3.

The third free practice session on the 5.414-kilometre Madring gets underway slowly. It takes five minutes before the Audi’s of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg appear on track. They are the first to head out, with several others soon following their example.

After more than fifteen minutes, the leading drivers head out for the first time, with Leclerc setting the provisional fastest time of 1:33.332. Around 20 into the session, Verstappen heads out for the first time today. Just as he begins his first flying lap, the red flag comes out. Lewis Hamilton locks up in the final corner and ends up in the trackside barriers. The Brit tries to bring his damaged car back to the pits, but his team asks him to stop the Ferrari in a safe place.

The red flag period is a long one because the Tecpro barrier cannot be repaired easily. The clock continues to count down and, to avoid the session having no running at all, the session is stopped, meaning the clock is paused with fifteen minutes remaining.

After a lengthy delay, the session gets back underway. Max heads out on the soft tyres and sets a time of 1:33.522, immediately moving into second place behind Leclerc. This proves to be short-lived, however, as both Mercedes and both McLarens go faster than Verstappen, while Leclerc improves his fastest time further to 1:32.963. A little later, championship leader Antonelli goes even faster with a 1:32.797. Verstappen stays on the same set of tyres and adds a second flying lap. With a time of 1:33.172, he moves up to P4.

Right at the end of the session, Oliver Bearman crashes at Turn 11. He loses control of the rear of his Haas at high speed and hits the wall heavily. Bearman is able to climb out of his heavily damaged Haas unhurt. The red flag comes out and the session is not resumed. This means Antonelli finishes the session fastest, followed by Leclerc in P2 and the two McLarens of Piastri and Norris in third and fourth. Verstappen finishes fifth.

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix gets underway at 16:00 local time.