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Formula 1 Bahrain March Testing

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 3

Minute by minute updates on the final day of the 2022 Bahrain F1 pre-season test

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari F1-75, leads Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Track action gets underway at 7am GMT and finishes at 4pm GMT. The day will be split by a one-hour lunch break (11am-12pm GMT) which can be reduced if requested due to lost track time from either red flags or poor weather conditions.

Haas has been granted extra time to catch up on the missed four hours of track running on Thursday, following a late arrival of its freight to the circuit. The US team was permitted an extra hour of track time after the chequered flag on Friday and will be permitted to run an extra hour this morning plus have two hours of further running this evening.

New signing Kevin Magnussen, replacing Nikita Mazepin, following the termination of his contract, made good use of this extra testing time by posting Friday’s fastest time courtesy of a 1m33.207s effort set on C4 tyre in cooler conditions.

AlphaTauri set the pace on Thursday while Ferrari led the way open Friday before Magnussen’s late show.

McLaren will head into the final day again without Daniel Ricciardo, who had been absent from the test due to feeling unwell before testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday night. Lando Norris will pilot the MCL36 in the Australian’s absence.

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Right, our stint is done. We shall now hand over to our Editor Haydn Cobb and technical editor Jake Boxall-Legge.
After a delay before heading out this morning, Red Bull has logged the least laps with 25 in the books. But they do top the times with Perez posting a 1m33.105s.
Hamilton and Gasly have been showing us a glimpse at how the cars can travel closely when following each other.
So Latifi will get more time in the Williams today after losing out to a fire yesterday. Albon will get a stint after lunch before Latifi jumps back in.
McLaren has fitted its new brake components that were flown out from their Woking base, but the car has been in the garage for some time now. Norris has logged 39 laps.
Perez, Zhou, Gasly, Alonso, Latifi and Hamilton on track.
Perez is back out and he appears to be C5 tyres.
Alonso's time is 2.3s adrift of Perez's current benchmark.
Stopwatch
Alonso shoots up to P5 with a 1m35.421s effort.
Alonso is on the soft C4 tyres and is up in sector 1 and 2.
Stroll has come into the pits as Alpine's Alonso exits the lane.
And that's the half century,  50 laps on the board for Hamilton now.
Plenty of attention on the front brake ducts in the McLaren garage. The team had been hoping to fly out new parts to help alleviate an issue that has limited the team to shorter runs.
Mercedes and Hamilton have logged the most laps so far this morning. 48 laps in the books.
Got to say Aston Martin's new green livery does look particularly stunning this morning.
Stroll and Hamilton have opted for some running on the hard C2 tyre.
Only Hamilton, Stroll, Zhou and Gasly out on track currently.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Here is another look at the revised Red Bull bodywork.

Perez is back in the pits after an out lap, push lap and and in lap.
Hamilton is some 3.1s adrift of Perez's session best but the Mercedes driver has logged 42 laps.
We have an hour and 45 minutes of running remaining in this morning session.
If you have just joined us and want to get up to speed with what happened yesterday. Here are the thoughts of our Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas and F1 reporter Luke Smith on Friday's running. 
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

I mean, what's not to like about this livery?

The Frenchman currently occupies third in the times with a 1m34.865s.
Another car looking good, both visually and from a performance standpoint, is the AlphaTauri as Gasly sets off on another lap.
Lap count klaxon!!! Sainz becomes the first driver to hit the 40-lap mark. The Scuderia's new car has run flawlessly so far in pre-season testing and it's showing.
It means he heads the times at the halfway point in this morning's four-hour session, which pleasantly, has not been halted or interrupted once.
On the C4 tyre, he's gone close to a full second faster than Zhou. Impressive stuff from the Mexican.
Stopwatch
And two, and three to set a new fastest time  - a 1m33.105s!!!
No, scratch that. Perez has decided to stretch the legs of his Red Bull with a new fastest sector one.
With that being said, no one is setting personal fastest sectors so perhaps some long runs are now in store for us...
The track has become significantly more busier over the last minute or two, with just Latifi and Alonso deciding against venturing out.
Not wishing to lose this most precious of mantles, Magnussen is back on track. The water leak that Haas was looking into is hopefully now a thing of the past.
But hot on their heels is Zhou, who has logged 32 laps and unlike the other two is currently still on track. Not only that but he's top of the times. Not bad for the F1 rookie.
The updated front wing has certainly seen plenty of the track this morning, as Alonso is now tied for the most laps run so far - 33 - with Magnussen.
Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Alpine is running an updated front wing this morning. Here is a closer look.

Stopwatch
He's green in sector two, and three, to set a 1m36.029s which puts him seventh.
But it looks like his next lap could be his fastest yet as he goes green in sector one.
Stroll as well is out on the C3s in his Aston Martin. The Canadian has logged 22 laps so far today.
Hamilton decides to head back out, with the yellow flashes on the side of his tyres indicating he's on the C3s.

By: autosport.com

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