Ahead of Q1, the air temperature is 24 degrees, while the track temperature is 384 degrees. It remains bright but with a lot of cloud and is still quite windy.

FP3, like the previous sessions, was tight, very tight. Indeed, the top six were covered by just 0.346.

Clearly, Mercedes has taken a step forward - despite being one of the few teams with no upgrades this weekend - to join McLaren and Ferrari in taking the fight to Red Bull.

Now, not being the gambling type, we wouldn't put our money where our mouth is, but despite everything we have this overwhelming feeling that Max Verstappen is keeping his powder dry and has yet to show his hand.

The closeness of the times suggests that we are in for a thrilling time in each phase of qualifying, however in the same way that the leaders will be separated by mere thousandths of a second, this will likely be the case for those that fall by the wayside.

Consequently, not only will it be vital to get lap at the right time, it is imperative that there are no mistakes and hopefully no traffic. Unfortunately traffic is always a problem here, while the strong winds today - as witnessed this morning - will lead to mistakes.

Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have both been summoned by the stewards, but it is unclear yet whether either of them are to be penalised following incidents earlier.

There are two local heroes in action this weekend, and while Fernando Alonso is unlikely to spring any surprises, this morning's pace-setter, Carlos Sainz, could give the fans something to cheer for.

Ahead of the green light, the stewards confirm a reprimand for Stroll and also for Leclerc, a surprisingly lenient decision in our opinion as both deliberately drove into rivals.

The lights go green and Sargeant leads the way, followed by Zhou, Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Stroll.

Sargeant posts an early benchmark, a 14.301, while Zhou posts a 14.334.

A 13.771 sees Ricciardo go top, while his teammate crosses the line at 14.046.

Stroll splits the RBs with a 14.038.

As the Canadian crosses the line there is much activity in the pitlane as Perez, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton head out.

The crowd cheers Sainz as he heads out.

Perez goes quickest with a 13.090 while Albon goes second with a 13.398.

Quickest in the two final sectors, Red Bull stops the clock at 12.306, while Piastri responds with a 13.040.

Hamilton goes second with a 13.033 but is demoted by Norris (12.386).

Alonso goes sixth (13.143), as Sainz and Leclerc trade fastest sectors. Leclerc posts a 12.257 and his teammate a 12.403.

Hulkenberg goes seventh with a 13.014, Gasly sixth (13.011) and Russell fifth (12.456).

Sargeant has been noted for impeding Stroll.

After the first wave, Albon, Tsunoda, Zhou, Magnussen and Sargeant comprise the drop zone, with Ricciardo, Ocon and Stroll hovering.

"I don't think I can improve on this set of tyres," admits Russell.

Sargeant will be investigated after the session.

Albon improves to twelfth with a 13.153, but is it enough?

With the top four settling for their times, the remaining 16 drivers are on track.

Perez goes sixth (12.477), while Bottas goes seventh and Zhou eighth.

Ocon goes seventh, Magnussen tenth, and Piastri sixth.

Hamilton goes quickest in S2, finally crossing the line at 12.143 to go top.

Ricciardo remains 15th, while Alonso goes ninth and Gasly tenth.

Stroll goes 14th, while Tsunoda can only manage 16th.

Hulkenberg goes 12th thereby demoting his teammate to the drop zone.

Quickest is Hamilton, ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Russell, Piastri, Perez, Alonso and Gasly.

We lose Magnussen, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Albon and Sargeant... that's both RBs and both Williams.

Unhappy with his performance, Tsunoda is even unhappier to learn that he failed to make the cut, the Japanese only 0.842s off Hamilton's pace.

Q2 gets underway, but only Stroll appears interested.

The Canadian crosses the line at 13.630, at which point Ocon, Perez, Alonso, Gasly and Hulkenberg head out.

As the cars are released in a staggered formation to minimise traffic, it is almost a minute before Russell is allowed out on track.

Gasly goes quickest (12.182), ahead of Perez, Hulkenberg and Ocon.

Bottas goes fifth, ahead of Alonso and Stroll.

A 12.038 sees Leclerc go top, but Piastri responds with a 12.011 and Sainz with an 11.874.

Norris stops the clock at 11.872, but Verstappen has an 11.653 up his sleeve.

Hamilton - on used rubber - can only manage 13th (12.666), while Russell - on fresh rubber - goes sixth, 0.461s off the pace.

"This tyre was bad," says Hamilton as Stroll heads out for his second flyer.

The Canadian improves to 12.372 but remains tenth, right on the cusp.

While Leclerc appears to have settled, Piastri heads out.

Hamilton, currently 14th, begins his final flyer. He posts a PB in S1, and another in the second sector. At the line it's 11.792 which puts him second.

Bottas goes ninth, while Ocon goes seventh.

Russell goes quickest in S1 as Hulkenberg remains 12th.

Gasly goes eighth and Perez seventh, while Alonso can only manage 11th.

An 11.812 puts Russell third.

Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly and Ocon.

We lose Alonso, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Zhou. The top 14 were covered by 0.719, the top 11 by 0.475.

Check out our Saturday gallery from Barcelona here.