Bahrain test day 3: Leclerc fends off Russell in final session

Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top of the time sheets again on the final day of official pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit, after team mate Carlos Sainz had been quickest of the morning runners.

Leclerc’s best time of 1:30.322s came after a 74 lap stint in the afternoon following delays for more drain cover problems in the morning. George Russell was just 0.046s slower after a late spurt of flying laps in the Mercedes.

Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was third fastest ahead of Max Verstappen, with Red Bull not inclined to show their full hand at this stage and Max Verstappen having a muted conclusion to testing consisting mainly of racing simulations.

Although there were some further minor clutch issues for McLaren, there were no further major stoppages during the day once the drain covers had been hammered into place and sealed down.

The cars will be back out on track at Sakhir next week for Free Practice 1 on Thursday ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race of the 2024 season.

Bahrain Pre-Season Test – Day 3

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Tyre	Laps
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:30.322s	C5	74
2	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.046s	C4	67
3	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	+0.325s	C4	85
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.433s	C3	66
5	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+0.453s	C4	53
6	Alexander Albon	Williams	+0.662s	C4	121
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.708s	C3	91
8	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+0.837s	C3	75
9	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.925s	C3	71
10	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	+1.161s	C3	53
11	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas	+1.364	C3	89
12	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+1.677s	C5	49
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.716s	C3	46
14	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.786s	C3	20
15	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.827s	C3	47
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.731s	C3	80
17	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+2.757s	C3	55
18	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+3.206s	C3	28
19	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+6.693s	C1	70

The day had started with another red flag for drain covers, with a second one comine lose at turn 11 within the first half. Repairs were swiftly affected and the schedule for the final day of the test duly amended.

It meant that there was no formal break for lunch, with teams able to work through and make their own individual arrangements for changing drivers whenever they saw fit.

Carlos Sainz was topping the timesheets at midday with a best time of 1:31.247s after 71 laps by the time he relinquished the Ferrari to Charles Leclerc for the rest of the day.

Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell soon joined the action for McLaren, Haas, RB and Mercedes respectively, as Fernando Alonso also handed over the Aston Martin to Lance Stroll.

Pierre Gasly was installed shoehorned into the Alpine in place of the somewhat taller Esteban Ocon, while Zhou Guanyu prised Valtteri Bottas from the Sauber. The only driver staying in place for the whole day was Williams’ Alex Albon.

Max Verstappen was also back in the Red Bull for the first time since he topped Wednesday’s times. He was out on the C3 mediums and clocked a sedate 1:32.669s on his first push lap, a second slower than Sainz on the same compound.

Leclerc was also running the yellow C3 rubber, and after seven laps of Sakhir the Monegasque driver went third on the timesheets with a 1:31.672s. Tsunoda then set personal bests in the RB but was still two seconds off the top.

Verstappen was now up to speed, and just before 1pm GMT he set a new top time of 1:31.058s to depose Sainz by almost two tenths. He soon improved even further to push the target time down to 1:30.763s.

Leclerc accepted the challenge, and just ten minutes later he put Ferrari back on top with a time of 1:30.409s. While Verstappen improved on his own time, it wasn’t enough to catch Leclerc who retained a 0.346s advantage.

The Ferrari still had more time left in it to squeeze out and Leclerc extended his lead with a new best lap of 1:30.322s on the softer C4 tyres, with a little over two hours remaining of pre-season testing.

Also improving was Piastri, who was into the top four time a new quickest lap of 1:31.216s. His team mate Lando Norris had been restricted in his morning stint by clutch issues, the latest niggle experienced on the MCL38 this week.

The sun was now setting over Bahrain, giving the teams a final ‘golden hour’ opportunity to undertake racing simulations, Verstappen slapping on a set of the hardest C1 compound for his next run.

With Verstappen not going for gold today, it was left to Russell to provide some final hour entertainment with an overtake on Leclerc, and subsequently coming within 0.046s of pipping Leclerc in the final minutes. By the time the session was over, Leclerc had completed 74 laps to 67 for Russell

Zhou ended third fastest after 85 laps ahead of Verstappen and Tsunoda. The driver setting the most laps was Albon, the only man in the cockpit for the whole day nothing notched up 120 laps in the car and finishing P6 – a welcome show of reliability after Williams’ problems on Wednesday.

The only incident of note in the afternoon came half an hour before the finish when something came loose from Gasly’s Alpine. A marshal was commendably quick to run out and retrieve the debris from the racing line without a caution.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Bahrain test day 3: Leclerc fends off Russell in final session F1i.com.