F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Leads Final Practice Ahead of Alonso
As the last practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix came to a close, Carlos Sainz emerged on top of the time sheet. Attention now turns to qualifying.
By Divyam Dubey
Carlos Sainz finished the final practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the quickest driver, narrowly beating Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 FP3 rankings. The Ferrari driver who is leaving the team showed his pace by being faster than Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso by 0.141 seconds when they were using soft tyres. The current world champion, Max Verstappen, came in third place, 0.238 seconds behind in his Red Bull car. Each practice session in Bahrain has been led by a different driver, causing ambiguity about the true competitive hierarchy as teams prepare for qualifying later on Friday.
During the last minutes of the session, a series of fast laps caused a change in the rankings, with the Red Bulls briefly taking the lead when Verstappen posted a time of 1m31.062s ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Alonso reclaimed the top position after being the first driver to achieve a lap time below 1m31s after previously holding the lead. Carlos Sainz, from the same nationality as Alonso, was able to achieve a faster time by 0.141 seconds, resulting in a Spanish 1-2 finish at the end of the session.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: FP3 Result
As with Bahrain GP FP1, it's crucial to recognise that circumstances during qualifying, which is contested under lights, may change dramatically, making FP3 the least predictive session of the weekend. Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 0.270 seconds behind his Ferrari teammate, with Lando Norris in fifth place driving for McLaren.
George Russell was in sixth place, while Lewis Hamilton, Russell's teammate at Mercedes and the leader in Bahrain GP FP2 on Thursday, ended up in 12th position on the scoreboard after a lap with a few wide moments. The top-10 order included McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, with only six-tenths of a second between them. The top 14 drivers were separated by less than a second, which is rather impressive.
| Pos | DRIVER | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 01:30.8 | 01:30.8 | 18 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 01:31.0 | +0.141s | 18 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 01:31.1 | +0.238s | 16 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 01:31.1 | +0.270s | 17 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 01:31.1 | +0.294s | 12 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 01:31.2 | +0.366s | 12 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 01:31.2 | +0.386s | 13 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing | 01:31.2 | +0.424s | 17 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 01:31.3 | +0.454s | 13 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 01:31.4 | +0.572s | 17 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Vcarb | 01:31.4 | +0.625s | 13 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:31.5 | +0.628s | 20 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | Vcarb | 01:31.6 | +0.807s | 14 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 01:31.7 | +0.847s | 20 |
| 15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 01:32.0 | +1.141s | 17 |
| 16 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | 01:32.0 | +1.176s | 17 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 01:32.1 | +1.272s | 16 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 01:32.1 | +1.300s | 11 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 01:32.1 | +1.301s | 16 |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 01:32.4 | +1.558s | 14 |
Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen finished in 13th and 14th place, respectively, with Alex Albon as the top-performing Williams driver in 15th position. Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas from Kick Sauber secured the 16th and 17th spots, while Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly encountered difficulties and ended up in 18th and 20th place. Logan Sargeant finished in 19th place, positioned between the Alpine drivers.
