MONTMELÓ, Spain (AP) — Formula One points leader Charles Leclerc swept all three practices ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix and edged reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the final session ahead of Saturday qualifying.
The Ferrari driver was just 0.072 seconds faster than Verstappen of Red Bull. The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth fastest in the Saturday morning session.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race was scheduled to follow the final practice session, held on a warm, sunny day at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Although large parts of Spain are under a heatwave alert with May temperatures that rank among the hottest in two decades, it was a manageable 32 C (89 F) during the morning practice.
The most heat came from the Haas of Mick Schumacher when his brakes failed and appeared to catch fire barely 15 minutes into the hourlong session.
Schumacher told his team by radio that “my brakes are burning, my rear brakes are burning” as he overshot his stop. Crew members quickly doused the flames spouting from the back right wheel with fire extinguishers.
The team said it was changing a gearbox and was “confident that Mick’s car will be in shape to take part in qualifying.”
Over 100,000 fans are expected at the first Spanish GP with full spectators since 2019; the public was not permitted to attend in 2020 and only 1,000 fans were allowed inside in 2021 because of pandemic restrictions.
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, the best shot to win on home soil, was fifth-fastest Saturday morning in his Ferrari. A fuel system issue forced Ferrari to change Sainz’s chassis overnight.
Fellow countryman Fernando Alonso has not had a joyous homecoming so far. He was 12th in Saturday morning practice for Alpine, accused the FIA of incompetence in race control, and was penalized during one of Friday’s practices.
Spain’s greatest driver has struggled this season and the two-time F1 champion has scored only two points, while Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon has scored 24.