Double Red Flag in Madrid: How the Final Practice Before Qualifying Played Out

The Madring hadn’t even completed a full hour of Formula 1 practice running and it had already sent two cars into the wall. FP3 at the Spanish Grand Prix, the session meant for fine-tuning ahead of qualifying, turned into a live demonstration of just how unforgiving this new street circuit really is.

Kimi Antonelli walked away with the fastest time, a 1:32.797, but the story of the afternoon belongs to Lewis Hamilton and Oliver Bearman, each the protagonist of a crash that brought the session to a complete halt.

Hamilton’s crash, and the fallout that followed

Twenty five minutes into the session, Hamilton carried too much speed into the final corner, locked his front tyres, and buried the Ferrari straight into the wall. A manageable hit on its own, except for one detail: he had just passed the pit entry. Getting back to the garage meant completing an entire lap of the circuit first.

That’s where things unraveled. The front wing was lodged under the car, dragging sparks and puncturing the front right tyre while Hamilton insisted on making it back under his own power, ignoring Ferrari’s instructions to stop. He eventually abandoned the attempt at the exit of Turn 14.

This isn’t a small detail. Under the FIA’s 2026 penalty guidelines, driving a car with significant damage, or failing to stop when instructed, can result in a reprimand or a grid penalty. No investigation had been confirmed by the close of the session, but the mood in the Sky Sports commentary booth was blunt about the Briton’s decision.

Notably, this wasn’t Hamilton’s first flashpoint of the weekend. In FP1 he was already at the center of a clash with Arvid Lindblad, who complained over team radio that Hamilton and Antonelli were moving slowly through a fast corner, calling the situation dangerous.

Bearman’s crash sealed the session

With barely a minute left on the clock, Bearman lost the rear of the Haas through Turn 10 and speared straight into a concrete wall at Turn 11, at high speed. The car sustained serious damage on the left side, both front and rear. Red flag, session over, and his participation in qualifying was left in doubt as Haas mechanics scrambled for a rebuild before qualifying got underway.

The irony is that the crash, without anyone intending it, ended up locking in Antonelli’s fastest time. Nobody got the chance to respond afterward.

Final classification

With two red flags and a session extended to preserve track time, here’s how all 22 cars were classified at the end of FP3 at the Madring:

RESULTS — FP3, 2026 SPANISH GRAND PRIX (MADRING)

Three different teams on the timing podium, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, which points to a wide open qualifying. Verstappen fifth and four tenths back is a sign Red Bull doesn’t quite have this new layout figured out either.

What this means heading into qualifying

Antonelli arrives with a 66 point championship lead after winning at Monza from P19, so there’s little pressure on his side. Hamilton has none of that luxury: he heads into qualifying on a hastily repaired car, without having completed a normal qualifying simulation run, and with a possible penalty still hanging over him.

Then there’s Bearman, who genuinely doesn’t know yet whether he’ll get to turn a lap before the Q1 lights go out. When a practice session ends like this, with two garages working against the clock, qualifying stops being just about the fastest lap.

Will Ferrari get Hamilton a competitive car in time, or did this already wreck his weekend before the part that matters even started? Let us know in the comments what you make of Hamilton’s call to keep driving a damaged car, and share this piece if the story caught your attention.

Sources: motorsport.com, crash.net, racingnews365.com, planetf1.com, grandprix247.com, gpfans.com, aol.co.uk