George Russell got the better of championship leader Kimi Antonelli to lead the way in final practice before qualifying at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The Silver Arrows has won every race this season and Russell ensured the team were back on top after Lando Norris topped Friday practice for McLaren.
Russell was 0.214 seconds clear of Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri in second, with the reigning world champion fourth.
Russell has failed to score in the previous two races after his engine expired in Montreal and he was dropped out of the points by a late drive-through penalty in Monaco as Mercedes failed to serve his original five-second penalty correctly.
Antonelli, 19, has opened up a 66 point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the standings having won the last five races -- with Russell now 68 points back.
The Italian raged at being hindered by traffic in Saturday’s opening running, which left him only seventh fastest and over eight tenths back from Russell.
Track temperatures touched 50°C during the final practice run but it was Antonelli who got hot under the collar.
“Why do I always get traffic, I don’t understand,” he said on the team radio.
Hamilton has finished second to Antonelli at the last two races and vowed to chase the Italian down for the remainder of the season.
The seven-time world champion ended the session fifth, over seven tenths off the pace, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Qualifying for Sunday’s 66-lap race gets under way at 4 p.m. local time (3 p.m. BST).
