Bahrain Testing Day 3: Verstappen comfortably leads ahead of Leclerc and Alonso

For those who doubted it, Red Bull is in good shape. After Sergio Perez nailed the best time of the morning, it was Max Verstappen who was the fastest this afternoon. In track conditions that were more favorable than this morning, the Dutchman set impressive lap times during his qualifying simulation runs on C5 tires. The RB18, which had new sidepods today, seems to be riding the momentum of 2021.

Another honorary podium for Ferrari. Second and third on the first day, Sainz leading yesterday and Leclerc second today: the Reds are on point. The Monegasque driver sets a good time in less favorable track conditions than Verstappen and on slightly harder tires (C4).

Mercedes, on the other hand, remains more in the background. While Lewis Hamilton focused on long runs this morning, George Russell attempted several laps of qualifying simulation and brought back the fourth fastest time on C5 tires. Never at the top, the German team is questioning. [Link to Verstappen not attaching much value to Hamilton’s recent statements](/f1/actualite/26524-verstappen-naccorde-que-peu-de-valeur-aux-recentes-declarations-dhamilton.html)

“Some believe in bluffing, while Lewis Hamilton himself admitted that he doesn’t think we will be able to fight to win.”

“>he did not think his car was competitive enough to go for wins.Tested positive for Covid-19, the Woking team only completed 90 laps today with Lando Norris. This is the lowest total of all the teams. The MCL36 has once again suffered from brake overheating issues despite the arrival of new parts sent from England last night.”

For Haas, the day has been quite good with Mick Schumacher setting the seventh fastest time (on C3 tires). However, the German driver caused a red flag when he spun off the track, while Kevin Magnussen had to cut short his morning session due to a hydraulic issue. The American team still has two more hours this evening to complete their programs.

Valtteri Bottas took a solid fifth place, but he had to retire before the end due to a technical issue. Frédéric Vasseur, the boss of Alfa Romeo, reassured everyone during an interview with Canal+ and appears confident about the performance of his car. We will find out in Bahrain.

Finally, for Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri, the afternoon went smoothly and both finished in the top 10. It was more challenging for Nicholas Latifi (Williams), who completed the most laps with 124 but had several off-track excursions at turn 10 and ended up with the fifteenth fastest time behind his teammate, Alex Albon.

Note: Mick Schumacher, being allowed to drive two hours longer than the other drivers today, achieved the second best time at the end of this period.