The China Mail - Piastri stays on top ahead of Norris in Spanish GP practice

The 24-year-old Australian clocked a best lap in one minute and 12.387 seconds to outpace Norris, who is three points behind him in the drivers' championship, by 0.526 seconds.

Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, seven-tenths off the pace, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Racing Bulls' impressive rookie Isack Hadjar.

Kimi Antonelli was seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of two-time champion and local hero Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari and Liam Lawson in the second Racing Bull.

Piastri will on Sunday seek not only to increase his lead in the title race, but also claim an eighth consecutive podium for McLaren, a feat achieved previously by only two drivers – Hamilton and three-time champion Ayrton Senna.

The session began in hot and dry conditions with Alpine new boy Franco Colapinto leading the way soon followed by home favourite Alonso, greeted by a loud cheer from a big Saturday crowd basking in the sunshine.

In a slow start, Lance Stroll and Gabriel Bortoleto joined in, but after 12 minutes only Bortoleto and Colapinto had set times.

The true action did not begin until the half-hour mark with Sainz clocking 1:14.124 followed by Leclerc and Hamilton taking over before Norris and Russell trimmed the top spot lap to 1:13.396.

Emerging last, Antonelli promptly endorsed the impression that Mercedes, like Ferrari, had found time overnight by going second on his first timed lap. Russell was four-tenths clear.

With only 17 minutes remaining, only six cars were on track as teams conserved tyres at a high-degradation circuit. It offered little entertainment for the fans before Verstappen, after set-up changes, went top in 1:13.375.

On their second runs, McLaren lifted the bar with Piastri clocking 1:12.387, a second faster than McLaren. Norris went second, 0.526 adrift and Leclerc third. Unexpectedly, the range of times from first to 10th was 1.4 seconds.

A.Zhang--ThChM