Sainz headlines tight final practice in Bahrain

Ahead of the first highly anticipated qualifying session of the year, FP3 highlighted the closeness of the grid, with the entire field, headed by Carlos Sainz, separated by just one and a half seconds.

It was a quiet start to FP3 at the Bahrain International Circuit, with all 20 drivers remaining in their respective garages for the opening moments of the session. 

Yesterday’s fastest man, Lewis Hamilton, was the first to venture out on track for a single flying lap before retreating.

He set an opening benchmark of 1:32.733s on the soft compound tyre, showering sparks as his W15 travelled through Turn 12.

Shortly after, Ferrari took the plunge with Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc out of the pitlane.

The Spaniard’s opening sector was two-tenths slower than his 2025 replacement’s, and despite making up ground in Sectors 2 and 3, he fell just shy.

Leclerc jumped to the top of the pecking order, coinciding with mass movement in the pitlane as the majority of the grid filed out.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, during FP3 at the Bahrain GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

With 40 minutes remaining in the session, the timing sheets began to fill up.

Sergio Perez jumped on the blower to his team to report of “nasty” upshifts in his RB20, an issue Max Verstappen struggled with during yesterday’s running.

Throughout the remainder of the session, the Mexican’s complaints continued, with Perez describing the upshifts as “really bad”.

One pair of ears the complaints weren’t falling on was Christian Horner’s, with the Red Bull Team Principal momentarily absent from the pit wall.

Horner was busy in a meeting with F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali and FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem regarding the infamous leaked messages shared yesterday.

Meanwhile, all drivers had opted to start their running on the soft tyre, bar the Red Bull duo.

Despite running the slower tyres, Verstappen sat ahead of Oscar Piastri, with the Australian’s MCL38 coughing up smoke at the halfway point of FP3.

He returned to his McLaren garage, joining his teammate whose car was undergoing a setup change.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, leaving his garage during the final practice session in Bahrain. Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images.

George Russell found himself sitting over half a second clear of P2, before being demoted by a flying Fernando Alonso.

The veteran went purple in the first and middle sectors of the lap, setting the fastest time of a 1:31.582s.

Despite one Mercedes sitting with the second quickest time, Hamilton was back on the fringes of the top ten, still a significant 1.1 seconds off the pace with replays showing him locking up and running wide.

Yuki Tsunoda split the Ferrari drivers as he slotted into P4, his VCARB01 continuing to display positive signs ahead of the later Qualifying session.

There were worrying signs for Alpine, however, as Pierre Gasly failed to improve from P17. 

His teammate wasn’t doing much better either in P12, with Esteban Ocon still a decent 1.4 seconds behind Alonso. 

As a lull fell over the Bahrain International Circuit, the Red Bulls were one of a few cars that remained on track, both making the switch to the C3 tyre.

Perez immediately jumped to the top of the order, however, his time of 1:31.248 was instantly smashed by his reigning world championship-winning teammate.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, during FP3 at the Bahrain GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

They weren’t clear of threat, with the grid rejoining the session with purpose for their Quali simulations.

It was a matter of milliseconds that saw Alonso reclaiming the top spot, with the Spaniard saying that he felt “connected with the car”.

The McLarens, although not quick enough for P1, improved from the back end of the grid to the third and fourth-fastest times, notably splitting the Bulls.

Soon it was time for the younger of the two Spaniards to shine, with Sainz beating Alonso’s middle sector and ultimately his total lap time to go P1 with a 1:30.824s.

Leclerc set personal bests across the lap, however, it wasn’t quite clean enough to breach the top three, sitting 0.270 seconds back on his teammate.

The Monegasque ultimately put the messy lap down to the viability issues, with the lowering sun acting as a hindrance in the closing stages. 

Another driver not having the cleanest of runs in FP3 was Pierre Gasly who had a twitchy moment at Turn 4, losing rear grip as he rode the kerb.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, during the final practice at the Bahrain GP. Image: Simon Galloway / LAT Images.

With just minutes on the clock, Ocon and Gasly held the two slowest times of the session, with the #31 only improving to P18 on his final run.

As the chequered flag fell on FP3, 14 drivers were incredibly separated by just eight-tenths, setting the scene for an incredibly close qualifying session in just a few hours. 

Carlos Sainz took the coveted P1 slot, 0.141 seconds ahead of his compatriot in P2.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen finished in P3, a slim 32 milliseconds ahead of the second-running Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

As for our Australians, Daniel Ricciardo had dropped out of the top ten to be sitting with the eleventh fastest time, while Piastri had been slightly more successful in P7.

The highly anticipated first Qualifying session of the 2024 season will start at 3:00 AM, AEST, under the floodlights in Bahrain. 

FP3 Results:

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