George Russell pipped Pink Bull rival Max Verstappen to the quickest time as Mercedes ended an intriguing but inconclusive last day of F1 Testing on prime.
On a Friday punctured by two weird crimson flags – the primary for a shattered pane of glass from a gantry that fell onto the primary straight and the second for the looks of a circuit bus in a run-off space – Russell ended up forward after a flurry of late quick laps within the day’s floodlit closing hour, with a greatest time of 1:29.545 – the third quickest of the three day take a look at.
Verstappen’s quickest effort, additionally on the C3 tyres, was a mere 0.021s slower because the world champion accomplished Pink Bull’s quickest laps of what at occasions had appeared a sophisticated take a look at with the RB21.
Pink Bull, who introduced a brand new nosecone to the ultimate day, spent a lot of the day on brief to mid-length runs seemingly experimenting with set-ups. Verstappen additionally had a late spin at Flip One.
After unseasonably chilly, after which moist, circumstances affected the opening two days of working, circumstances had been extra typical for the Center East for the ultimate day.
Williams’ Alex Albon adopted up team-mate Carlos Sainz’s test-best time from Thursday with the third-quickest Friday effort, ending 0.1s again on Russell, albeit on the marginally faster C4 compound.
Having caught the attention with their long-run tempo on Thursday, McLaren had a lower-key last day with neither Oscar Piastri nor Lando Norris once more troubling absolutely the prime of the headline timesheet, though the previous produced a late flier to go fourth.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was fifth on the finish of a productive take a look at for the Enstone group, a yr on from their dismal begin to the marketing campaign once they propped up the pecking order.
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A bus bizarrely drove out onto the observe on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit, inflicting one other crimson flag on the ultimate day of testing
Lewis Hamilton featured in a primary afternoon session of the week at Ferrari and ended up with the sixth-fastest time, 0.8s away from Russell and his former Mercedes group.
Hamilton had mentioned within the lunchtime information convention that he was as a consequence of carry out his first race simulation since becoming a member of Ferrari, however ended up finishing solely 47 laps throughout numerous brief stints. The Scuderia missed the ultimate phases of the session in a barely untimely finish to their day.
Workforce-mate Charles Leclerc was ninth however 0.5s slower within the hotter morning circumstances.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was tenth after finishing the morning session forward of Norris in eleventh.
Bahrain Testing: Day Three timesheet
1) George Russell, Mercedes, 1:29.545, 91 laps
2) Max Verstappen, Pink Bull, 1:29.566, 81 laps
3) Alex Albon, Williams, 1:29.650, 137 laps
4) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:29.940, 85 laps
5) Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:30.040, 84 laps
6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:30.345, 47 laps
7) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:30.497, 87 laps
8) Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:30.728, 103 laps
9) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:30.811, 66 laps
10) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:30.888, 61 laps
11) Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:30.943, 57 laps
12) Jack Doohan, Alpine, 1:31.239, 61 laps
13) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:31.699, 34 laps
14) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:31.726, 69 laps
15) Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:31.761, 73 laps
16) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:32.084, 82 laps*
17) Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:32.147, 35 laps
18) Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:32.361, 59 laps
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There are 24 occasions on the 2025 F1 calendar, the identical quantity as final yr, with the season ending on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 5-7.
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