Lewis Hamilton crashes in final Spanish GP practice

Hamilton eventually pulled over, with ​the front wing ‌still wedged under the car which also had a punctured front right tyre. | Photo Credit: AP

Lewis Hamilton crashed his Ferrari in final practice for ​the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new ‌Formula One circuit on Saturday, bringing ​the session to a halt ⁠with just over half an hour remaining.

The seven-time world champion locked up and went into ‌the barriers at the final corner. He managed to reverse out ‌and tried to get the damaged ‌Ferrari ⁠back to the Madring pitlane, ⁠virtually a whole lap, while ignoring team instructions to stop.

The Briton eventually did pull over, with ​the front wing ‌still wedged under the car which also had a punctured front right tyre.

“Stop the car. Stop in the safest ‌place possible,” he had been told ​earlier.

“If I can make it back I will. If not, ⁠I will do it safely,” replied Hamilton, who returned to the pits on the ‌back of a moped after parking up.

The session was red-flagged and the clock then temporarily stopped for barrier repairs with 15 minutes to go.

Qualifying later on Saturday will be crucial for ‌Sunday’s race, with overtaking likely to be ​difficult on the challenging layout that Mercedes’ George Russell said on Friday ⁠had less margin for error than Monaco ⁠because of the close walls but higher speeds involved.

Hamilton was fourth ‌fastest at the time of the crash, with teammate Charles Leclerc top ​of the timesheets.