Charles Leclerc finished ahead on the third and final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing on Friday in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was an unusual day in which the absolute best time of these tests was not beaten – remaining in the possession of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who was the only one to lap in the 1m29s.
Problems with a drainage area on the track in the first half hour led to a red flag and a long interruption. Therefore, unlike the other days, when the activity resumed, there was no break, only one session took place. Nevertheless, the teams did not fail to rotate their drivers as planned.
It was relatively early that Leclerc (Ferrari) set the benchmark time of 1m30.322s. In the final phase of the day, with conditions more representative of those that will be encountered in the decisive sessions of the Grand Prix, George Russell (Mercedes) reached second place, just 0.046s behind. The big surprise was the third time of Guanyu Zhou (Kick Sauber/Ferrari) at 0.325s, followed by three-time champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Yuki Tsunoda (Visa Cash App RB F1 Team).
Williams was the only team that only used one of its drivers on Friday – Alexander Albon, who therefore completed the most laps individually with a total of 121. In his best lap, he achieved sixth place. Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) finished seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Mercedes), with Sainz and Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) completing the top ten fastest.
Further down, the seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) is in 12th place, while Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) accumulated the fewest kilometers – he could only complete 20 laps due to a problem with the clutch of his car.
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