Lewis Hamilton suffers late disaster as Kimi Antonelli clear Belgian GP pole favourite

Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets once again in third practice ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but it is an accident at the death of the session for Lewis Hamilton which grabbed the headlines.

Hamilton replicated what Pierre Gasly did in second practice at Turn 13, resulting in major damage to the rear of his Ferrari at the end of what had been a productive session.

The Italian was the only driver to dip into the high 1m 45s, but crucially failed to improve on his final qualifying simulation.

Like on Friday, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were Antonelli's closest challengers in second and third, both within two tenths of a second.

George Russell and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton completed the top five, although both were almost four tenths slower than Antonelli.

How Belgian GP FP3 unfolded

It was a traditionally slow start to third practice at Spa-Francorchamps, with nobody eager to head straight out onto the circuit. Five minutes into the session, a few midfield cars finally emerged.

The track quickly became busier soon after, with the teams running a variety of programmes. Some opted for longer runs, while others immediately fitted the soft tyres for qualifying simulations.

Max Verstappen only ventured out 20 minutes into FP3, shortly followed by both Mercedes drivers. All three headed straight onto the soft tyres for qualifying simulations.

There was frustration for Isack Hadjar, as the Frenchman lost all power at the end of the pit lane. Thankfully, he was pushed back by the Red Bull mechanics and soon returned to the circuit.

Halfway through the final session before qualifying, it was Kimi Antonelli on top by a staggering eight tenths of a second after posting a 1:45.990, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. George Russell was 1.3s adrift of his team-mate.

A quiet period followed after all the drivers completed their first genuine qualifying simulations, as several teams opted for longer runs on the soft tyres, having lost track time in second practice due to multiple red flags.

However, Russell went for another push lap and did improve with 22 minutes remaining, moving up to fourth but still one second slower than Antonelli, highlighting a significant performance deficit for the Briton.

As FP3 entered its final 15 minutes, more new soft tyres were fitted, triggering another round of qualifying simulations. Verstappen was the first to complete a lap and finished just 0.148s adrift of Antonelli, while Russell remained four tenths slower than his team-mate.

Lando Norris also showed his pace, as he had in FP2, and went second fastest, just 0.09s quicker than Verstappen. Interestingly, Antonelli failed to improve but remained quickest. That left only the Ferrari duo. Hamilton went fifth, while Charles Leclerc had to settle for sixth.

No further improvements were made in the final seconds as Hamilton did exactly what Gasly did at Turn 13 in FP2, going off the circuit, clipping the wall and heavily damaging the rear of his SF-26. Ferrari face a race against the clock ahead of qualifying.