Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Bahrain GP

F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 and Qualifying

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Live Text

Sort by
Oldest first
Verstappen set a personal best first sector before arriving upon the scene of the spun Haas and having to back out. Red Bull now fastest in all three sectors, it should be noted, with Perez now quickest in sector three.
Alfa has used soft tyres to move into P6 and P7, with Raikkonen just half a tenth behind Giovinazzi despite losing most of FP2 yesterday. That said, he's probably driven around Bahrain more times than I've done Zoom quizzes over this past year.
It's rather unusual to see Bottas and Vettel bringing up the rear isn't it? Bottas has had numerous laps taken away for track limits and his best that still stands is a 1m36.179s. Aston newboy Vettel meanwhile has only been out on the hard tyre and - as he said yesterday - still feels there's plenty left on the table as he continues to bed into his new surroundings.
Stopwatch
We have a new fastest man - it's Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri, logging a 1m32.321s.
AlphaTauri not hanging around as Tsunoda launches up to P6 on a 1m33.482s before both come into the pits after their soft-tyre runs.
Bottas has gone out again on a set of the soft tyres. He's churned through a few of those already, clearly trying to gain confidence for qualifying.
Stopwatch
Meanwhile the Ferraris have bolted on a set of medium compound tyres - and Sainz duly moves to P1, with a 1m32.108s, and Leclerc third on a 1m32.482s.
Bottas now delivers a good lap to displace Sainz - the Finn is the first man into the 1m31s on a 1m31.855s, but his time is immediately bettered by Hamilton's 1m31.316s. Mercedes sits 1-2 for the time being.
Hamilton goes purple in all three sectors there and is currently 1.3s quicker than Verstappen. But remember, the Red Bull man did his PB on hard tyres which are significantly slower.
Norris and Ricciardo have bolted on a set of softs too, so watch for them to move up the leaderboard.
Ricciardo duly jumps up to fifth, just behind Gasly, but Norris is half a second slower and only improves to eighth.
Alonso meanwhile is on the mediums - he was P19 a few moments ago, but improves to P15 on a 1m34.466s. Will the Spaniard struggle to get out of Q1 later on?
 
Verstappen goes out again, but is on a set of mediums - so we'll have to wait and see how he directly matches up against Mercedes on the softs. Perez is using softs however and takes third, on a 1m31.908s.
Perez was purple in the final sector - an ominous sign that the Honda engine in the back of the Red Bull could be a true match for the Merc this year.
The final sector is basically the blast down to the final corner, and the pit straight - with only one corner, it's an interesting barometer of engine performance, although there's always the possibility that Hamilton had a messy exit from the final corner due to the aforementioned balance issues.
Meanwhile, another Honda-powered car has taken second place and it's that man Gasly again. The AlphaTauri driver punches in a 1m31.583s, three tenths off Hamilton.
Now Verstappen delivers what we've been waiting for - on his first lap with the softs, he's a full 0.739s quicker than Hamilton with a 1m30.577s. Gauntlet. Laid.
That's a power lap from Verstappen, who is 1.3s quicker than his new team-mate. Probably won't do Perez's confidence much good...
In the lower reaches of the top 10 there have been several improvers as well. Behind Sainz (still fifth on the medium), we've got Raikkonen, Ocon, Stroll and Ricciardo all on the softs. The midfield looks set to be deliciously juicy this year, doesn't it?
In the battle of the veterans, Vettel and Alonso are languishing in 14th and 15th places, just above the cut-off for Q3. But somehow, we feel Norris in P16 has a bit more pace in his pocket than he's showed today...
Just over two minutes left of the session - will we see any late improvers?
Our third-place man Gasly is out on soft tyres at the moment, but doesn't improve on his most recent lap which is half a second off his PB.
Checkered flag
Checkered flag is out, that's the end of FP3.
Tsunoda improves on his last lap, but it's promptly deleted for track limits. Regardless, it wouldn't have been enough to move up higher than his current P13, ten places below Gasly as it stands.
Nobody else is on course to improve, so here's your top 10 order from FP3:

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Gasly
4. Bottas
5. Perez
6. Sainz
7. Raikkonen
8. Ocon
9. Stroll
10. Ricciardo
So what did we learn? Well, if the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes truly is 0.7s, then the Black Arrows are going to have a lot of work to do before qualifying. But, as we mentioned earlier, the hot temperatures of FP3 mean it's not an entirely representative demonstration of the conditions what we can expect later.
It was interesting that Sainz set his best time on the medium rubber. He's 1.5s shy of Verstappen, but Pirelli's Mario Isola reckoned that the soft was worth 0.9s per lap over the medium - so Ferrari may be a bit closer to the pace than we expected.
Notable too, perhaps, that once again it was Sainz leading the way at Ferrari? How will that early Turn 3 spin on the hard tyres have affected Leclerc's psyche prior to qualifying?
Here's a man who knows something or two about winners...
 
There's certainly a theme to the weekend beginning to emerge isn't there? Verstappen has been fastest in all three sessions, and Mercedes - or Bottas at least, judging by his several lap deletions for track limits - don't appear happy. Could it really be this straightforward for qualifying though? Does Mercedes have a magic bullet to deploy?
 
Even disregarding the battle for pole, with eight different constructors in the top 10, qualifying is shaping up to be a thriller. Remember, it all kicks off later today at 3pm GMT.
In case you missed any of the action in a session that took a while to warm up before reaching a fascinating crescendo, here's the full report from ALEX KALINAUCKAS: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/verstappen-completes-f1-practice-clean-sweep-at-bahrain-gp/5937097/
That's all from us for the time being - make sure to join us later on as we build up to what promises to be a thrilling qualifying session. See you then.

Hello once again! Right we've seen plenty of laps and heard plenty of chat across testing and this weekend's practice, but shall we see what it actually all means? It is nearly time for qualifying for the first time in 2021!

Practice might have been trimmed this year - with each session running for only one hour - but the qualifying format remains familiar with the traditional Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout system.

For the time being nobody is taking any grid penalties into qualifying, which is perhaps not so surprising given it is the first race of the year, but it does mean literally everything is up for grabs. Who is your money on?

Sun

Weather report: Clear and dry conditions, with a minimal chance of sandstorms or other such-like Bahrain meteorological concerns. Track temperature is 35.4oC but expect that to dip as the sun sets on the circuit.

By: James Newbold, Megan White, Haydn Cobb

Published: