Kimi Antonelli topped the final practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, posting a best lap of 1:45.990 for Mercedes that no rival could match, while Lewis Hamilton’s session ended in drama after he clipped the tyre barrier at Turn 13 and damaged his Ferrari.

The Italian’s benchmark, set on his first run on soft compound tyres, left McLaren’s Lando Norris 0.139 seconds adrift in second place, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a further nine-thousandths back in third. George Russell completed a strong showing for Mercedes in fourth, 0.367s off his teammate, while Hamilton held fifth despite his late incident.

Antonelli’s advantage appeared commanding at the midpoint of the session, when he held margins of 0.799s over Hamilton and 0.847s over Verstappen. The gap narrowed considerably during the closing qualifying simulations, but the 20-year-old’s time stood firm even as he was unable to improve on a second set of fresh tyres. He aborted one lap after a missed gear and lost time with a scrappy moment at Les Combes.

Hamilton had set the early pace for Ferrari, trading fastest times with Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad before lowering the benchmark to 1:46.789. His session ended on a sour note, however, when he lost control at Turn 13 and made contact with the barrier in an incident strikingly similar to Pierre Gasly’s crash at the same corner during Friday’s second practice. Ferrari will need to assess the damage ahead of qualifying.

Gasly himself returned to action after Alpine completed extensive overnight repairs to his car, and the Frenchman finished 15th with a 1:47.949 lap. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar also encountered problems when he stopped at the pit exit and reported a loss of power, though he was recovered and returned to set a 1:47.096 lap for 10th place.

Charles Leclerc endured a frustrating session, with two laps disrupted by traffic before he finally posted a 1:46.750 to take sixth. Oscar Piastri placed seventh for McLaren after recovering from the hydraulic issue that had limited his running on Friday.

Audi showed encouraging pace with Nico Hülkenberg eighth and Gabriel Bortoleto ninth, while the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll propped up the order more than four seconds off the pace. The full classification saw all 22 drivers set representative times ahead of qualifying later in the day.