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Formula 1
Bahrain GP
F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 and Qualifying
Saturday's Formula 1 action from the Bahrain International Circuit
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After two extensive pre-season tests split between Barcelona and Bahrain, the new generation of F1 starts this weekend with the season opener Bahrain GP.
Friday practice saw Max Verstappen and Red Bull end FP2 on top ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr, while Mercedes endured a tough opening day with George Russell fourth, over half a second off Verstappen’s lap time, and Lewis Hamilton down in ninth place.
Sebastian Vettel has been ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19, with Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg taking on the super-sub role which he undertook for the team on three occasions in 2020.
Daniel Ricciardo is back in action for McLaren after recovering from his own positive COVID-19 test which forced him to miss the Bahrain pre-season test last week.
FP3 starts at 12pm GMT (3pm local time) and will run for one hour, with qualifying taking place at 3pm GMT (6pm local time) and will also run for one hour.
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We've had a little lull in the session, but Perez and Hamilton have now exited the pits on another set of softs after a data download with their respective engineers.
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We've yet to see Tsunoda emerge from the garage. AlphaTauri has confirmed that he has a hydraulic problem, and replays show that the Japanese couldn't turn the steering wheel as he tried to pull out of the pits.
Latifi is just a shade over a tenth quicker than the fastest medium tyre runner Gasly, who has set a 1m36.088s.
Of the 12 cars who have tried the soft so far, Williams are again bringing up the rear with Albon ahead of Latifi. Former DTM racer Albon's best effort so far is half a second down on Zhou's Alfa - although we don't know of course what fuel loads they were running.
Leclerc gets it back to the pits, but his mechanics will have to clear out the floor area of all the loose stones before he can go out again.
He gets a big tank-slapper going through the long Turn 11 right-hander, appearing to drop his rear-right wheel over the kerb. He attempts to correct but it turns to snap oversteer and spits him to the right-hand side, skating across the run-off and through the gravel.
Off track
And there's a big spin for Leclerc!
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Speaking of Russell, the Mercedes man doesn't seem to be happy. He complains over the radio: "Still not feeling massively comfortable with the car, so much understeer apex low speed". It gets a one-word response from his engineer: "Affirm".
Haas really does appear to have some good pace. Magnussen now splits the Mercedes cars on the soft, his 1m34.263s putting him into sixth, ahead of Russell.
Sainz meanwhile goes third-fastest, improving on his previous effort to squeeze back ahead of Perez on a 1m34.148s.
Sure enough, Verstappen goes purple in all three sectors and displaces Leclerc from the top of the timesheets with a 1m33.035s, 0.762s quicker than the Ferrari man. That's a statement of intent.
Verstappen has gone out for his first try on softs and immediately smashes Leclerc's first sector time.
Gasly and Stroll have just set personal best times on medium tyres, popping up in 10th and 11th respectively. Norris though remains the fastest medium runner, just ahead.
Still, Perez goes second to split the Ferraris with a 1m34.160s. Albon goes eighth for Williams, slowest of the soft runners so far on a 1m35.805s.
That was a good lap from Leclerc, 0.42s faster than Sainz. Meanwhile Perez and Albon have also set off on soft tyres, but the Mexican is complaining of a long brake pedal in his Red Bull over the radio.
The times keep coming down. Now Sainz goes fastest, again with the soft, setting a 1m34.217s. That's then immediately beaten by Leclerc, who becomes the first man into the 1m33s bracket with a 1m33.79s lap.
Zhou pops up in third, but is a fair way off his team-mate with a 1m35.318s. His grip on third - and Bottas's hold on second - is brief though as Russell goes P2 on a 1m34.470s, two tenths behind Hamilton.
Bottas goes second-fastest on the soft, with a 1m34.617s. A Hamilton-Bottas 1-2, where have we seen that before?
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Hulkenberg is asked if he's experiencing any porpoising. "Nope, don't think so," comes the German's reply.
Bottas though is now out on a soft and going for a flyer - so too is his team-mate Zhou, while Russell and the Ferraris have also emerged on softs.
Hulkenberg posts his first flying lap and its a 1m37.506s on the medium, 1.2 seconds slower than Norris but ahead of the fastest hard-shod runner Bottas.
But Hamilton immediately usurps that on the soft, setting a 1m34.256s to go fastest so far.
The McLaren appears to be running some yellow flow-vis paint on the left-hand side of Norris's car after the team's difficult day yesterday. He goes fastest on the medium with a 1m36.317s.
And they're joined by Hamilton, who according to our timing screens has bolted on a set of soft tyres.
Hulkenberg and Norris have now both headed out, each using the medium tyres.
Breaking news
We mentioned earlier about Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman losing out on a debut FIA F3 win to a track limits penalty. Here's what he had to say about it: https://www.autosport.com/fia-f3/news/bearman-expresses-confusion-over-track-limits-penalty-after-losing-bahrain-f3-win/9133363/
There are two good reasons why the teams aren't doing lots of running right now in unrepresentative conditions. First, they don't want to burn up their tyre allocation unnecessarily. And second, chasing set-up for conditions that will be totally different than later can lead teams down a blind alley.
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We've yet to mention Nico Hulkenberg so far. He's replacing a COVID-stricken Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin this weekend, making his first race start since he subbed for Lance Stroll at the 2020 Eifel GP when the team was known as Racing Point. Expect to see Hulkenberg out shortly.
The only cars so far to set timed laps are the Alfas, with the Haas and Mercedes cars returning to the pits after installation runs. Bottas is currently fastest on a 1m38.840s. Don't expect that to hold him on top spot though.
Magnussen said yesterday that he couldn't believe his situation at a revitalised Haas as he became a late replacement for the ousted Nikita Mazepin. Under different circumstances, he'd be in Sebring right now for today's 12 Hour IMSA race driving a Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi.
Both Mercedes have also come out of the pits right at the start of the session. All five cars to emerge so far are running hard tyres.
Breaking news
If you want to know a little bit more about Zhou, China's first F1 driver, then why not check out his exclusive interview with Autosport's sister title GP Racing? Oleg Karpov sat down with the rookie to chat through his career so far, and why he's feeling less pressure than he did in F2 so far. Subs only: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-alfas-2022-f1-rookie-feels-less-pressure-than-racing-in-f2/9116104/
Green flag
We're underway for FP3. Magnussen is first out of the pits in the Haas, followed immediately by the Alfa Romeos of Zhou and Bottas.
We're just one minute away from the start of FP3. Will we see any early takers?
It's to be expected everywhere F1 goes now, but there's a healthy contingent of orange-clad Max Verstappen fans in the grandstands ready to cheer their man on as he carries the #1 on his Red Bull.
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Track temperatures are currently a roasty 38.7 °C. Air temperature is a little cooler, at 22.5 °C.
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Haas isn't short on fans this year, especially given the recent release of Drive to Survive. The Gunther Steiner appreciation society turned out in force in the paddock earlier...
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