Antonelli Sets the Pace in Final Belgian Practice as Hamilton Crashes Out

Sports

Kimi Antonelli continued his impressive Belgian Grand Prix weekend by topping the timesheets in the final practice session at Spa Francorchamps, while Lewis Hamilton’s session ended prematurely after a heavy crash.

The Mercedes driver produced the fastest lap of FP3 with a time of 1:45.603, edging out McLaren’s Lando Norris by just over a tenth of a second to complete a strong final preparation ahead of qualifying.

Antonelli looked comfortable throughout the one hour session, building on his pace from Friday as Mercedes fine tuned the car for qualifying. The championship leader delivered a clean and consistent performance, reinforcing his status as one of the favourites for pole position.

Norris once again showed McLaren’s pace by finishing second, while Max Verstappen secured third for Red Bull after another competitive session. Charles Leclerc placed fourth for Ferrari, with George Russell completing the top five for Mercedes.

The biggest incident of the session came when Lewis Hamilton crashed heavily during the closing stages. The Ferrari driver lost control entering one of Spa’s high-speed sections and hit the barriers, bringing out the red flags. Hamilton emerged from the accident unhurt, but Ferrari mechanics now face a race against time to repair his car before qualifying.

The interruption prevented several drivers from completing their final flying laps, leaving the timesheets largely unchanged as the session came to an early end.

Mercedes head into qualifying with strong momentum after Antonelli topped both Friday’s second practice session and Saturday’s FP3, while McLaren and Red Bull remain within striking distance. Ferrari, meanwhile, will be hoping to recover quickly from Hamilton’s crash as they prepare for one of the most important qualifying sessions of the season.

With the field appearing closely matched and Spa Francorchamps always capable of producing surprises, the battle for pole position promises to be fiercely contested.