Max Verstappen retained the top spot in FP3 of F1 Bahrain GP with teammate Sergio Perez third behind Charles Leclerc.
The FP3 session in F1 Bahrain GP was another smooth run with no major trouble barring the off moment for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at Turn 11. There was issue for AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who got no laps in due to hydraulics leak.
Meanwhile, McLaren finally fixed the water leak for Daniel Ricciardo who got good amount of laps eventually after losing all in FP2. At the front, the lead changed hands among Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, as the German outfit showed some pace.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended up fastest with a 1m32.544s lap, finishing 0.096s quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m32.640s). The Dutchman had to go around again after locking-up on his first attempt using the soft compound.
Sergio Perez (1m32.791s) made it a Red Bull 1-3 after the Mexican put up the third best time late in the day, with Mercedes’ George Russell (1m32.935s) in fourth from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m33.0.53s) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m33.121s) in the Top 6.
A late lap from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m33437s) helped him to be seventh and pushed the Alfa Romeo duo of Valtteri Bottas (1m33.733s) and Guanyu Zhou (1m33.880s) to eighth and ninth, with the Ferrari-powered cars having a better run.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m33.920s) who also put in a late lap, which pushed McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m33.955s) to out of the Top 10 in 11th. The other Aston Martin of Nico Hulkenberg (1m33.971s) was 12th from the lone AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly (1m34.176s).
Much like Magnussen, Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m34.295s) kept it late for his quick laps but couldn’t stitch a full lap to end up 14th from McLaren’s Ricciardo (1m34.378s). The first of Alpine was Fernando Alonso (1m34.628s) in 16th, who is under investigation along with Sainz.
Ferrari released Sainz on Alonso’s way in the pitlane where the F1 team is likely to be handed a fine. Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon (1m34.957s) was 18th behind Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m34.868s) with his teammate Nicholas Latifi (1m35.667s) 19th, while Tsunoda got no laps in.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1505169970099064838?s=20&t=8YOH-ghuUxS2xG4_e7UH6Q
Here’s what they said after Friday in F1 Bahrain GP
