F1 Bahrain 2021 pre-season testing - Day 3
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For comparison, that time by Perez is less than a tenth off the fastest time from yesterday by Bottas.
At the end of hour three in this morning's session, Perez is currently fastest on a 1m30.309s. Leclerc and Norris complete the top three.
The 50-lap club is getting a bit crowded now as Leclerc joins the ranks.
Raikkonen isn't hanging around, blasting past Schumacher down the main straight. Having said that, Kimi still remains at the bottom of the timing sheets so obviously not going that fast.
Back to the track action and two more drivers are into the 50-lap club. Welcome Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly.
We rest our case.
The TV cameras have caught a glimpse of Ocon's Alpine and 'that' airbox. Anyone else getting Ligier JS5 vibes?
Bottas has also decided he's had enough for now and has gone into the pits. The Mercedes driver sits on 59 laps so far, some crucial running for the Finn.
Plenty of cars out on track, with only Perez and Russell deciding to sit in the pits as things stand.
That hasn't deterred the young German however, who goes for another lap on the C3 tyre.
Schumacher steps over the limit in his Haas just slightly, locking his front-right entering Turn 1 and running a little wide.
Raikkonen meanwhile becomes the fourth driver to hit the 50-lap mark this morning.
But the Canadian fails to improve on his best lap, which currently stands at a 1m36.100s - some six seconds off the pace at the moment.
But not for long. Stroll is back out and going faster than he's done today in the first sector.
After that flurry of activity and personal best sectors things have calmed down a little.
Interestingly Perez didn't improve on his best time in the middle sector, but obviously had enough life left in his C4 tyres in sector 3 as he went purple.
Stopwatch
And he goes to the top of the timing screens with a 1m30.309s! The Mexican is certainly settling into the Red Bull RB16B very well it seems.
More flashes of green on the timing screens, this time from Perez in sector 1.
And while that was happening we can welcome two more drivers to the 50-lap club this morning; Bottas and Russell.
Norris has decided he wants to get in on the act and grabs the fastest sector 1 time, improving his overall time to a 1m30.661s.
Speaking of green sectors, Ocon has set a new PB in sector 1 and sector 2 before posting a new personal fastest lap - a 1m31.310s.
Gasly sets a new PB in the final sector but can't improve on his fastest time.
No one has told Gasly that though. The Frenchman is on a set of C4 tyres and is going for a quick one.
No personal best sector times from any of the drivers though, with race simulations obviously being the order of the day at the moment.
The track has become a bit busier with Leclerc, Gasly, Bottas, Russell and Raikkonen all circulating.
And that's 50 laps for Stroll. At the bottom of the lap count running is Norris on 27, so plenty of tours being turned this morning by all the teams.
Breaking news
A Ferrari currently heads the timesheets, could the team's radical diffuser fin be a reason for its up-turn in form?
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-opts-for-radical-f1-diffuser-fin-solution/5724017/
And his first 'flying' lap does not improve on his personal best time - just to prove me wrong!
Raikkonen is back out on track with a set of the C3 tyres. He's currently bottom of the times, some six seconds off the pace so expect him to close that gap shortly.
The Frenchman improves in time but not position, setting a 1m30.828s and remains fourth overall.
There's some flashes of purple on the timing screen as Gasly goes fastest in the first sector on the C4 tyre.
Speaking of Stroll, he has completed the most laps of any driver so far today with 44. Not a bad innings for the Aston Martin driver so far.
Along with Perez the only other cars currently out on track at the moment are Gasly and Stroll.
Stopwatch
Perez logs a 1m30.543s with the best middle sector, on C3 tyres.
Ocon posts a 1m31.517s on the trial C3 tyre, shaving off a little time there.
Stopwatch
Norris has dropped a 1m30.737s to go up to P2. A good lap on the C2 tyres.
More of a Gym Leader than a Pokemon, but you could theoretically fight against Lt. Surge-io Perez. It was a stretch...
Russell doing some constant speed runs, doing some sweeps of different speeds to understand the car at different phases.
Kimi Raikou-nen is another that just makes sense. When an interviewer comes, he flees as quickly as his near-namesake...
Not a lot is happening at the moment, so let's play F1 drivers as Pokemon. Pierre Gastly is an immediate lock.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Stefan Mackley, Haydn Cobb, Tom Howard
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