Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Sainz sets the fastest time ahead of Alonso and Verstappen

The second day of the first weekend of the season started this Friday with the Free Practice 3. Scheduled at 3:30 pm local time, they took place in similar conditions to Free Practice 1. With a temperature of 20 degrees in the air, it was not the scorching heat one might expect in Bahrain. It was also the last opportunity to fine-tune the settings before qualifying, which will take place at night just like the race. As a reminder, Daniel Ricciardo had set the fastest time in FP1. Lewis Hamilton had impressed in FP2 by dominating the other drivers on the grid.

The sequence of the session / The agenda of the session

This last free practice session did not start on a high note. The teams took their time and the first car to set off was Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, more than 5 minutes after the green light. Equipped with soft tires, he set the first time with 1:32.733. The 2 Ferraris followed suit, setting the fastest time with Charles Leclerc (1:32.677) and the third fastest with Carlos Sainz, only 3 hundredths behind Hamilton.

Like Max Verstappen yesterday, Sergio Perez was complaining about his gearbox on the radio.

A rain of improvements in soft tires.

20 minutes after the start of the session, Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time in 1:32.440… Immediately surpassed by Lance Stroll by more than a tenth. The trials were finally heating up, and George Russell raised the temperature by going under 1 minute 32 seconds. Fernando Alonso followed suit by improving the previous time by 2 tenths.

The only ones to hide their game were the two Red Bulls: the only team to race on hard tires.

The Alpines were the last to take off just before the halfway point. Esteban Ocon clocked the 12th fastest time, almost a second and a half behind Alonso. Pierre Gasly placed one tenth further back than his teammate, in 17th position.

A slower pace mid-session.

After successive improvements, the drivers started longer runs, still on soft tires. The lap times were not decreasing, and the hierarchy from the start of the session remained largely the same. Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari were still at the front.

Red Bull finally decided to switch to the red tyres with fifteen minutes remaining in the practice session. Sergio Perez, as the first driver out on track, set the fastest time with a 1:31.248. Max Verstappen then set a quicker time of 1:31.062, also breaking the sector 1 and 2 records, with the sector 3 record still held by Charles Leclerc.

A livelier ending

Fernando Alonso took the lead in the timing charts thanks to a very strong third sector. He improved the Red Bull driver’s time by one-tenth. He stated: “I am connected to my car, a good sign for the qualifying session.”

The McLarens made their appearance at the top of the rankings by moving up to 3rd and 5th places. Niko Hülkenberg’s Haas set the 7th fastest time. The Haas seems to be performing well on this track.

Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap with 5 minutes to go in the practice session with a time of 1:30.824. The track improved significantly in the final minutes, which allowed for all these improvements. His teammate tried to mimic him but could not do better than the 4th time.

The session ended with the traditional departure procedures.

The hierarchy remained unchanged, with a Ferrari in the lead. McLaren is lurking behind, as is Fernando Alonso, while Red Bull still seems to be keeping their cards close to their chest. Alpine continues to struggle at the back of the field. The qualifications are scheduled for 5pm later today!

The session ranking