FP3: Ferrari in front as Mercedes struggle

  • Published on 30 Mar 2019 14:01
  • 1
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Charles Leclerc has topped the final practice session in Bahrain, as Ferrari holds a strong advantage over the rest of the field.

Leclerc's fastest time was a 1:29.569, which was seven-tenths of a second slower than Sebastian Vettel's session-topping time yesterday during the second practice outing.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session in third place, however he was over seven-tenths of a second down on Leclerc. The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was a further tenth behind as the Silver Arrows appeared to suffer from a loose rear end throughout the session.

Ferrari opted to set its quick laps earlier than its rivals in order to secure a clear lap free of traffic.

Romain Grosjean improved late on and ended up in fifth for Haas, just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault. 

The Renault power unit stood up strong in the speed traps, as McLaren got both of its cars into the top ten, breifly running inside the top five before they were pipped.

Lando Norris was seventh, 0.010s quicker than teammate Carlos Sainz, who ended the session in ninth. In between the two McLarens Max Verstappen, as Red Bull continued to disappoint in terms of pace.

Verstappen's teammate Pierre Gasly was 12th, the same position he ended the second practice session yesterday in. 

Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ahead, beating the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen to the spot ahead of qualifying.

Under a tenth and a half separated 13th to 17th, which contained Kevin Magnussen, the two Racing Point cars, Daniel Ricciardo and the Toro Rosso of Alexander Albon. 

After Robert Kubica complained on Friday that he was driving a car that handled completely differently to teammate George Russell's he rounded out the timesheet but was just under a tenth away from the 2018 Formula 2 champion. 

Bahrain International Circuit - 30 March 2019

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  • Leclerc looks a bit more comfortable with the car, don't he? Looks a bit like Vet keeps overdriving ever since the season start.

    • + 0
    • Mar 30 2019 - 16:15

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