BARCELONA - Lewis Hamilton was fastest in final practice for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas closely behind.
Hamilton posted a best 1 minute 17.222 seconds around the 4.655-kilometre Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona with Bottas just 0.151 seconds adrift.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third and closed the gap from Friday's sessions to just over half a second but long runs suggest he could again threaten on Sunday. Verstappen won the 2016 Spanish GP on his Red Bull debut.
It’s P1 for @LewisHamilton and P2 for @ValtteriBottas in #FP3 👏![CDATA[]]>👏
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) August 15, 2020
Next up... Quali! #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/7aX7UdLlQl
Qualifying is later Saturday in what is again expected to be a shoot-out between standings leader Hamilton, victorious the last three years in Barcelona, and Bottas.
Carlos Sainz of McLaren took fourth with Sergio Perez fifth for Racing Point on his return from a coronavirus infection which ruled him out of the last two races.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was sixth with team-mate Sebastian Vettel a lowly 12th despite receiving a new chassis.
Renault's Esteban Ocon crashed late in the session when taking evasive action after Kevin Magnussen inexplicably slowed his Haas having moved into the Frenchman's line.
The incident is being investigated and Magnussen will likely be sanctioned.
dpa