McLaren’s Oscar Piastri tops the final free practice session during the Bahrain Grand Prix. With a few hours until qualifying, McLaren has once again proved to be the team to beat in Bahrain.
Lights out for the final practice session
As the track goes green, many drivers are taking their time to go out due to the extreme weather conditions. With a track temperature of over 40 degrees, the conditions are unrepresentative of that expected in qualifying and the race tomorrow.
McLaren’s drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are in no rush to get out on the track, following a spectacular practice session yesterday. In which the McLaren duo finished half a second ahead of their closest rival George Russell.
On the other hand, Haas and Ferrari were eager to get out on track and put in some representative laps. This was as both teams struggled in their set-ups on Friday. Lewis Hamilton claims the team needs to find consistency in their set-up, as he is battling the car. However, the upgrades seem to be a positive step for Ferrari.
Fifteen minutes into the session, the wind has picked up, adding an extra challenge for the drivers during this final practice hour. These early laps are still rather unrepresentative of the true pace of teams due to the weather conditions. However, the top three are Hamilton with a 1:34:846, closely followed by Leclerc and Ocon who was a second off Hamilton.
Teams starting to come out
With less than forty minutes remaining in the session, the vast majority of drivers and teams are out on track. As Lando Norris set his first flying lap, he was able to reclaim P1, with a 1:33.796. Over a second clear of Lewis Hamilton’s previous fast time.
Max Verstappen is back in the garage for a rear suspension change. The four-time world champion went for his first flying lap, however, quickly aborted it due to a balance issue. Verstappen and Red Bull have consistently struggled with the balance of the RB21 over the past few rounds. They will be hoping this suspension change can bring them closer to Mercedes, and potentially McLaren.
Oscar Piastri sets his first flying lap of FP3, managing to clear his McLaren teammate by half a second. Once again emphasise early in the session that they are the duo to beat.
The wind is proving to make life difficult for many of the drivers out there. Lawson came on the radio to tell his team that the “wind is making a major difference, especially in Turn 11.” Verstappen, Bortoleto and Norris both had to compromise early fast laps after going wide due to the wind.
The Virtual Safety Car is brought out momentarily as Nico Hulkenberg stalls his Sauber. Unfortunately for the Swiss team who were looking strong, Hulkenberg will not continue further in this session.
Green Flag racing
With twenty minutes remaining, the chaos of Formula 1 resumes. Charles Leclerc loses his left-hand mirror whilst, on track, Max Verstappen goes wide at turn two, setting the second-fastest lap behind Piastri. Elsewhere Lawson and Russell have a small squabble. Russell wanted to be ahead of Lawson, so he squeezed past the Racing Bulls car. It didn’t impress the Kiwi, who labelled the move as “so annoying.”
George Russell has a spin in turn ten, however, he manages to keep the car running and continue for the remainder of the session. However, it was an odd moment for Britt who labelled this practice session as “the least amount of grip I’ve had in a Formula 1 car.”
Entering the final stages of FP3, the top three are McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who set a 1:33.324. Verstappen and Norris closely follow the Australian with around ten minutes remaining
In the final ten minutes, the driver’s laps are consistently improving. With Oscar Piastri setting a blistering 1:31.646, 1.32 seconds clear of the closest competitor in second. This flying lap from Piastri had even Pierre Gasly questioning the team stating,
“I can’t believe how fast these McLarens are at the moment”
Norris was able to come within six hundredths of his teammate’s astonishing lap time. With the British driver losing the majority of his time to Piastri in the second sector.
Final five minutes
Leclerc in the updated Ferrari has managed to place his car in P3, only eight hundredths behind the McLaren’s. The Monegasque driver described the pace of McLaren as “annoying yesterday” and with a wider margin today, he will be frustrated with this result.
Tsunoda has had a tough practice session, the Japanese driver has struggled to put together a clean flying lap. Finishing the session with a fastest lap time of 1:35.271. Tsunoda will be hoping to improve on this before qualifying in a few hours.
Carlos Sainz is reporting an issue with engine braking in his Williams. The team will monitor the issue leading up to qualifying, hoping to provide Sainz with the best car possible.
As the checkered flag flies, McLaren claims yet another 1-2 finish in Free Practice, with Lando Norris coming in 0.668 seconds behind his teammate. Leclerc in the upgraded Ferrari is almost a second behind the McLaren drivers, once again proving that McLaren are the team to beat during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
