By:
Jake Boxall-Legge
Piastri posts a 1m30.233s to go 0.131s faster than Russell, as Norris only goes P3 for now – but both McLarens had used tyres, so there might be a bit more pace in it.
Russell sets a 1m30.364s to go top on the fresh softs. That’s impressive, but can it hold a candle to the Maccas?
It’s a 1m31.637s for Tsunoda – Verstappen is 0.4s slower than the Japanese driver. Antonelli goes 0.143s faster than Tsunoda.
All eight non-McLarens go out on track first, as the two orange cars hang on and decide to leave the garage a bit later. Verstappen and Tsunoda should kick us off with Q3 laps.
Everyone except the two Mercedes cars are on used tyres.
Q3 begins!
This is it, then – is anyone going to be a McLaren to pole?
Top 10 contenders
Piastri, Norris, Gasly, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Verstappen, Tsunoda.
Elimination from Q2
11. Doohan, 12. Hadjar, 13. Hulkenberg, 14. Alonso, 15. Ocon.
And Tsunoda survives by the skin of his teeth; Doohan isn’t able to make it out of Q2 – just 0.017s made the difference. Red Bulls only in ninth and 10th.
Antonelli goes up to third place, before Russell outpaces him by just 0.05s. Tsunoda is sixth fastest, before Hamilton goes up to P5; Gasly then goes third fastest, and Verstappen only slots into seventh.
Russell and Antonelli kick off the second runs to make their final claim for a Q3 place. All, except Piastri and the out-of-the-running Ocon, are on track.
Q2 elimination zone with 5 minutes remaining
11. Verstappen, 12. Hadjar, 13. Ocon, 14. Alonso, 15. Tsunoda.
It’s a 1m30.560s for Norris, as Piastri goes a tenth quicker with a 1m30.454s.
Antonelli does a 1m31.178s, as Russell is a couple of tenths off his team-mate. Sainz slots between them on the timing board.
Q2 is up and running once more. Antonelli, Russell, and Hulkenberg lead the field onto the circuit. Both Mercedes have been pinged for leaving the garage before the session resumption time was officially called.
Q2 should be resuming in a minute – both Hulkenberg and Tsunoda were on laps, so they’ll be a touch frustrated by the timing of the red flag.
Esteban Ocon puts his car in the wall at Turn 3. He gets a swapper on and loses the rear, and ends up skipping across the gravel on the left-hand size.
Hamilton, Antonelli, Russell, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Hulkenberg are out early to try and get a banker in. We’ve got more takers coming, although there’s a bit of a wait at the pitlane exit.
Q2 is away!
Now’s the time to decide those who will compete in the top 10 shootout for pole.
Late efforts from both Red Bull drivers after losing their initial laps. Both Verstappen and Tsunoda were incredibly tentative on the exit of Turn 14, simply just to get the lap in at the end.
Eliminated in Q1
16. Albon, 17. Lawson, 18. Bortoleto, 19. Stroll, 20. Bearman.
Verstappen cements his place in Q2, as does Tsunoda – but Hulkenberg’s late final effort puts Albon out at the death!
Doohan’s up to third fastest. If both Red Bulls and Albon improve, this might put Lawson and the two Saubers back down into the bottom five…
Bearman has a snap out of the final corner and goes 13th. Bortoleto immediately puts the Briton down a place, as do Stroll and Hadjar; the Haas driver won’t make it out of Q1.
Everyone except Leclerc is on the circuit to do a second lap – even the McLarens! We’re about to get our first laps – and a whole lot of shuffling…
Elimination zone after first runs
16. Stroll, 17. Hadjar, 18. Bortoleto, 19. Verstappen, 20. Tsunoda.
Ocon and Hulkenberg have both thrown in second runs, going up to ninth and 10th respectively. Top three might be safe as the final runs begin, as Antonelli goes out again.
Doohan’s thrown in quite a good lap; Sainz, Gasly, and Hamilton had been unable to beat the Australian’s benchmark. Leclerc then sets a 1m31.454s, Piastri drops a 1m31.392s, but Norris then does a 1m31.107s to go fastest. It’s all change!
Verstappen attempts to get a lap in but runs very wide at Turn 14 and has to bail out of it. Neither Red Bull looks quick as Verstappen was down on Tsunoda, who also gets a lap deleted.
Hulkenberg kicks us off with a 1m32.810s, which is immediately surpassed by Alonso’s 1m32.362s. We’ve got a few more takers for the circuit now, as both Red Bulls join the Racing Bulls and Alpines onto the road.
Q1 is under way
18 minutes for everyone to get a lap in, and make sure they clear the cut off. Alonso, Stroll, and Hulkenberg are the first ones to get onto the track.
Managing the C3 soft tyre is going to be a real challenge in this qualifying session – if you take too much out of it in the first sector, you’ll have nothing left at the end of the final part of the lap.
10-minute klaxon
Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix will be underway very shortly! Will we get any surprise exits in Q1? With track limits at Turn 4 a very real threat, there’s the potential.
FP3 recap
Oscar Piastri threw together a lightning lap to sit top of the timesheets by some margin over Lando Norris, and an even bigger margin over the rest of the field.
Hot weather meant that times – and grip – were down from where the circuit was last night, but Piastri managed to find an impressive time to go fastest. Charles Leclerc beat the two Mercedes drivers to third in the times.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our live feed – we’ll be covering Bahrain qualifying as it happens, so stay tuned for all the action.
Piastri posts a 1m30.233s to go 0.131s faster than Russell, as Norris only goes P3 for now – but both McLarens had used tyres, so there might be a bit more pace in it.
Russell sets a 1m30.364s to go top on the fresh softs. That’s impressive, but can it hold a candle to the Maccas?
It’s a 1m31.637s for Tsunoda – Verstappen is 0.4s slower than the Japanese driver. Antonelli goes 0.143s faster than Tsunoda.
All eight non-McLarens go out on track first, as the two orange cars hang on and decide to leave the garage a bit later. Verstappen and Tsunoda should kick us off with Q3 laps.
Everyone except the two Mercedes cars are on used tyres.
Q3 begins!
This is it, then – is anyone going to be a McLaren to pole?
Top 10 contenders
Piastri, Norris, Gasly, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Verstappen, Tsunoda.
Elimination from Q2
11. Doohan, 12. Hadjar, 13. Hulkenberg, 14. Alonso, 15. Ocon.
And Tsunoda survives by the skin of his teeth; Doohan isn’t able to make it out of Q2 – just 0.017s made the difference. Red Bulls only in ninth and 10th.
Antonelli goes up to third place, before Russell outpaces him by just 0.05s. Tsunoda is sixth fastest, before Hamilton goes up to P5; Gasly then goes third fastest, and Verstappen only slots into seventh.
Russell and Antonelli kick off the second runs to make their final claim for a Q3 place. All, except Piastri and the out-of-the-running Ocon, are on track.
Q2 elimination zone with 5 minutes remaining
11. Verstappen, 12. Hadjar, 13. Ocon, 14. Alonso, 15. Tsunoda.
It’s a 1m30.560s for Norris, as Piastri goes a tenth quicker with a 1m30.454s.
Antonelli does a 1m31.178s, as Russell is a couple of tenths off his team-mate. Sainz slots between them on the timing board.
Q2 is up and running once more. Antonelli, Russell, and Hulkenberg lead the field onto the circuit. Both Mercedes have been pinged for leaving the garage before the session resumption time was officially called.
Q2 should be resuming in a minute – both Hulkenberg and Tsunoda were on laps, so they’ll be a touch frustrated by the timing of the red flag.
Esteban Ocon puts his car in the wall at Turn 3. He gets a swapper on and loses the rear, and ends up skipping across the gravel on the left-hand size.
Hamilton, Antonelli, Russell, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Hulkenberg are out early to try and get a banker in. We’ve got more takers coming, although there’s a bit of a wait at the pitlane exit.
Q2 is away!
Now’s the time to decide those who will compete in the top 10 shootout for pole.
Late efforts from both Red Bull drivers after losing their initial laps. Both Verstappen and Tsunoda were incredibly tentative on the exit of Turn 14, simply just to get the lap in at the end.
Eliminated in Q1
16. Albon, 17. Lawson, 18. Bortoleto, 19. Stroll, 20. Bearman.
Verstappen cements his place in Q2, as does Tsunoda – but Hulkenberg’s late final effort puts Albon out at the death!
Doohan’s up to third fastest. If both Red Bulls and Albon improve, this might put Lawson and the two Saubers back down into the bottom five…
Bearman has a snap out of the final corner and goes 13th. Bortoleto immediately puts the Briton down a place, as do Stroll and Hadjar; the Haas driver won’t make it out of Q1.
Everyone except Leclerc is on the circuit to do a second lap – even the McLarens! We’re about to get our first laps – and a whole lot of shuffling…
Elimination zone after first runs
16. Stroll, 17. Hadjar, 18. Bortoleto, 19. Verstappen, 20. Tsunoda.
Ocon and Hulkenberg have both thrown in second runs, going up to ninth and 10th respectively. Top three might be safe as the final runs begin, as Antonelli goes out again.
Doohan’s thrown in quite a good lap; Sainz, Gasly, and Hamilton had been unable to beat the Australian’s benchmark. Leclerc then sets a 1m31.454s, Piastri drops a 1m31.392s, but Norris then does a 1m31.107s to go fastest. It’s all change!
Verstappen attempts to get a lap in but runs very wide at Turn 14 and has to bail out of it. Neither Red Bull looks quick as Verstappen was down on Tsunoda, who also gets a lap deleted.
Hulkenberg kicks us off with a 1m32.810s, which is immediately surpassed by Alonso’s 1m32.362s. We’ve got a few more takers for the circuit now, as both Red Bulls join the Racing Bulls and Alpines onto the road.
Q1 is under way
18 minutes for everyone to get a lap in, and make sure they clear the cut off. Alonso, Stroll, and Hulkenberg are the first ones to get onto the track.
Managing the C3 soft tyre is going to be a real challenge in this qualifying session – if you take too much out of it in the first sector, you’ll have nothing left at the end of the final part of the lap.
10-minute klaxon
Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix will be underway very shortly! Will we get any surprise exits in Q1? With track limits at Turn 4 a very real threat, there’s the potential.
FP3 recap
Oscar Piastri threw together a lightning lap to sit top of the timesheets by some margin over Lando Norris, and an even bigger margin over the rest of the field.
Hot weather meant that times – and grip – were down from where the circuit was last night, but Piastri managed to find an impressive time to go fastest. Charles Leclerc beat the two Mercedes drivers to third in the times.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our live feed – we’ll be covering Bahrain qualifying as it happens, so stay tuned for all the action.
