Bahrain – FP3: Räikkönen confirms, Vettel concerns
At the end of a session that began very calmly, Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time and is preparing to start the qualifying tests in the best conditions.
The third free practice session began with very few attacks from the drivers until halfway through when the times started to drop. In this game, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull set the pace by consistently improving their lap times. Only Vettel, who suffered a technical anomaly, lost some time returning to his pit before pushing to secure the best time at 1:30.924.
It was without taking into account his teammate, who quickly responded by achieving the best time of the session at 1:29.968.
This time, however, remains behind compared to his performance from the day before.
Kimi Räikkönen is so far the master of the Bahrain desert, dominating the practice sessions. The Mercedes cars, slightly behind with Lewis Hamilton in particular not finding the right settings for his car, are in fourth and sixth places.
It is therefore the two Red Bull drivers who follow the Finn, but more than half a second behind. Vettel’s Ferrari ends this session in an alarming manner with an engine problem. To be confirmed later in the day.
Regarding the other teams, Renault shows its teeth in the midfield while Williams continues its descent in the timing charts.
Now, it’s time for the qualifying trials to see if Kimi Räikkönen or another driver will do better than last year’s best time of 1:28:769, which was set by Valtteri Bottas.
