By:
Jake Boxall-Legge
Quite an ominous statement from McLaren in that session. Check back in an a couple of hours, as we’ll bring you all the action from qualifying. See you then!
Bahrain FP3 complete
That wild ol’ lap from Piastri ensures he’s top, with all three purple sectors. Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli, Gasly, Hadjar, Verstappen, Sainz, and Hamilton complete our top 10.┬а
Norris posts a 1m32.314s to go second fastest on tyres that had already seen a lap – but he’s still 0.668s shy. Leclerc moves up to third place as the Ferraris take a whack at a soft-tyre lap.┬а
Russell and Antonelli move up to second and third – but both still over a second away from Piastri. “I can’t believe how quick these McLarens are,” Gasly reckoned.
It’s a 1m31.646s for Piastri – 1.3s clear of Gasly.┬а
Verstappen goes top – interestingly, he’s put the old nose on that Red Bull came to Bahrain’s test with. Piastri’s very quick at the moment; Gasly briefly goes top with a 1m32.974s.
Suddenly, the queue for fast times has become oversubscribed; Albon sticks his car up to fourth in the order after setting a best first sector.┬а
Russell’s had a very rare spin on the exit of Turn 10; you don’t see a lot of cars going round like that there. “I’d probably go as far as saying that was the least grip I’ve had in an F1 car,” he contended after said spin. Brief yellow, before going green again as he righted himself.
Leclerc’s mirror made a break for freedom, which doesn’t reflect well on the person who stuck it on. The track action has subsided a little bit, as Bortoleto returns to the circuit bearing some flow-vis paint around the rear wing.┬а
Russell has a lock-up at Turn 1 while about to start a lap – he’s the sole driver yet to set a time as Verstappen posts a 1m33.558s to go up to second.
Hulkenberg has come to a stop at the entry to Turn 8, so we’ll need a VSC to move that. He’s largely away from the racing line. Car went into anti-stall, according to the Sauber driver.
FP3 order after 30 minutes
1. Piastri, 2. Norris, 3. Alonso, 4. Hamilton, 5. Leclerc, 6. Gasly, 7. Hulkenberg, 8. Doohan, 9. Hadjar, 10. Lawson.
A real mix of tyre choices in this session; the top five so far have all done a run on softs, while most of the order behind have tried mediums and hards out. Piastri’s on another run with softs, but isn’t improving.
Piastri rockets to a 1m33.324s to go fastest, putting him 0.472s clear of Norris.┬а
It’s a 1m33.796s for Norris on the softs; Verstappen beats his first sector by three tenths, but has to bail after running wide at Turn 11. Tailwind appears to be a problem here, as Verstappen reports “that’s **** terrible” as he recovers to the road.
Both Alpines set laps on the medium, Gasly over 0.4s faster than Doohan on their opening tours of the session. Tsunoda and Bortoleto are also on the road; the Brazilian has an off at Turn 11.
Hamilton sets a 1m34.846s on the softs. Still ages away from yesterday’s FP2 times, but it’s the fastest we’ve seen in this session. Leclerc follows that up with a 1m34.903s on his first tour of FP3.
“Crazy how bad the grip is compared to the night – it’s impressive,” Bearman reports over the radio. He and Ocon are still circulating on hards, while the field is joined by Leclerc and Doohan on-track.
Ocon drops a 1m36.409s on the hards, and reports continued bouncing through Turn 12 which he feels makes it difficult to go flat out.
Hamilton was on a hot lap on the softs – but the Briton abandoned it after Turn 11.┬а┬а
Ocon and Hamilton interrupt the circuit’s metamorphosis into “Bear-hrain” by taking to the road, although Bearman does indeed set the fastest – and only – lap so far with a 1m37.825s. Which doesn’t tell us much, other than it being a slowish lap on a hard tyre.
Bahrain FP3 underway
…and there’s not many takers at this stage. Ollie Bearman gets the circuit to himself.
Track temperature is currently at 44C, air temp 33C. There’ll be a lot of thermal degradation in this session!
We’ve just over 10 minutes to go until FP3 gets under way – limited things that the teams can learn in this session, but nobody’s going to turn down free running!
It’s been another hot one in the desert sun – the Formula 3 race earlier was held under temperatures around 35C. It’s getting cooler, but FP3 will be a bit of a struggle overall for the drivers.
Hello and good afternoon – we’re about to bring you the action from FP3 at Bahrain!┬а
Quite an ominous statement from McLaren in that session. Check back in an a couple of hours, as we’ll bring you all the action from qualifying. See you then!
Bahrain FP3 complete
That wild ol’ lap from Piastri ensures he’s top, with all three purple sectors. Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli, Gasly, Hadjar, Verstappen, Sainz, and Hamilton complete our top 10.┬а
Norris posts a 1m32.314s to go second fastest on tyres that had already seen a lap – but he’s still 0.668s shy. Leclerc moves up to third place as the Ferraris take a whack at a soft-tyre lap.┬а
Russell and Antonelli move up to second and third – but both still over a second away from Piastri. “I can’t believe how quick these McLarens are,” Gasly reckoned.
It’s a 1m31.646s for Piastri – 1.3s clear of Gasly.┬а
Verstappen goes top – interestingly, he’s put the old nose on that Red Bull came to Bahrain’s test with. Piastri’s very quick at the moment; Gasly briefly goes top with a 1m32.974s.
Suddenly, the queue for fast times has become oversubscribed; Albon sticks his car up to fourth in the order after setting a best first sector.┬а
Russell’s had a very rare spin on the exit of Turn 10; you don’t see a lot of cars going round like that there. “I’d probably go as far as saying that was the least grip I’ve had in an F1 car,” he contended after said spin. Brief yellow, before going green again as he righted himself.
Leclerc’s mirror made a break for freedom, which doesn’t reflect well on the person who stuck it on. The track action has subsided a little bit, as Bortoleto returns to the circuit bearing some flow-vis paint around the rear wing.┬а
Russell has a lock-up at Turn 1 while about to start a lap – he’s the sole driver yet to set a time as Verstappen posts a 1m33.558s to go up to second.
Hulkenberg has come to a stop at the entry to Turn 8, so we’ll need a VSC to move that. He’s largely away from the racing line. Car went into anti-stall, according to the Sauber driver.
FP3 order after 30 minutes
1. Piastri, 2. Norris, 3. Alonso, 4. Hamilton, 5. Leclerc, 6. Gasly, 7. Hulkenberg, 8. Doohan, 9. Hadjar, 10. Lawson.
A real mix of tyre choices in this session; the top five so far have all done a run on softs, while most of the order behind have tried mediums and hards out. Piastri’s on another run with softs, but isn’t improving.
Piastri rockets to a 1m33.324s to go fastest, putting him 0.472s clear of Norris.┬а
It’s a 1m33.796s for Norris on the softs; Verstappen beats his first sector by three tenths, but has to bail after running wide at Turn 11. Tailwind appears to be a problem here, as Verstappen reports “that’s **** terrible” as he recovers to the road.
Both Alpines set laps on the medium, Gasly over 0.4s faster than Doohan on their opening tours of the session. Tsunoda and Bortoleto are also on the road; the Brazilian has an off at Turn 11.
Hamilton sets a 1m34.846s on the softs. Still ages away from yesterday’s FP2 times, but it’s the fastest we’ve seen in this session. Leclerc follows that up with a 1m34.903s on his first tour of FP3.
“Crazy how bad the grip is compared to the night – it’s impressive,” Bearman reports over the radio. He and Ocon are still circulating on hards, while the field is joined by Leclerc and Doohan on-track.
Ocon drops a 1m36.409s on the hards, and reports continued bouncing through Turn 12 which he feels makes it difficult to go flat out.
Hamilton was on a hot lap on the softs – but the Briton abandoned it after Turn 11.┬а┬а
Ocon and Hamilton interrupt the circuit’s metamorphosis into “Bear-hrain” by taking to the road, although Bearman does indeed set the fastest – and only – lap so far with a 1m37.825s. Which doesn’t tell us much, other than it being a slowish lap on a hard tyre.
Bahrain FP3 underway
…and there’s not many takers at this stage. Ollie Bearman gets the circuit to himself.
Track temperature is currently at 44C, air temp 33C. There’ll be a lot of thermal degradation in this session!
We’ve just over 10 minutes to go until FP3 gets under way – limited things that the teams can learn in this session, but nobody’s going to turn down free running!
It’s been another hot one in the desert sun – the Formula 3 race earlier was held under temperatures around 35C. It’s getting cooler, but FP3 will be a bit of a struggle overall for the drivers.
Hello and good afternoon – we’re about to bring you the action from FP3 at Bahrain!┬а
