Kimi Raikkonen confirmed Ferrari’s ambitions for pole position this evening, the Finn leading the third and final practice session in Bahrain.
The Finn concluded the session 0.525s ahead of the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, while a struggling Lewis Hamilton was fourth.
Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 results
1
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:29.868s
15
2
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:30.393s
+ 0.525s
8
3
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:30.452s
+ 0.584s
8
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:30.691s
+ 0.823s
14
5
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:30.719s
+ 0.851s
8
6
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:30.781s
+ 0.913s
16
7
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:31.144s
+ 1.276s
11
8
Carlos Sainz
Renault
1:31.200s
+ 1.332s
12
9
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:31.438s
+ 1.570s
18
10
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:31.445s
+ 1.577s
13
11
Brendon Hartley
Toro Rosso
1:31.460s
+ 1.592s
18
12
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:31.513s
+ 1.645s
14
13
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1:31.554s
+ 1.686s
17
14
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1:31.564s
+ 1.696s
14
15
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:31.737s
+ 1.869s
14
16
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:31.859s
+ 1.991s
17
17
Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren
1:31.860s
+ 1.992s
14
18
Charles Leclerc
Sauber
1:32.047s
+ 2.179s
19
19
Sergey Sirotkin
Williams
1:32.463s
+ 2.595s
11
20
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:32.865s
+ 2.997s
12
Drivers took to the Sakhir track under hot and sunny conditions for a final opportunity to tweak and refine their set-up before this evening’s crucial qualifying session.
Carlos Sainz was the first driver to post a relevant time with a 1m33.893s, which in turn woke everybody else up, and especially Valtteri Bottas who immediately shaved off three seconds from the Renault driver’s time
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel was called back to the Ferrari garage for a loose deflector on the right hand side of his Ferrari.
Most drivers struggled to equal or beat their Friday times but Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was one man did improve on yesterday’s performance, in part thanks to a few updated parts on his STR13 which had not been installed at the outset.
Twenty minutes from the end of the session, both Ferrari drivers upped the pace, with Kimi Raikkonen jumping to the top of the timesheet with a 1m29.868s set on a brand new set of supersoft rubber.
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In a bid to remain in contact with the Scuderia’s contenders, Lewis Hamilton ran wide at the final corner but still managed to slot his Mercedes into P2, about 0.8s down on Raikkonen.
Back in the Silver Arrows garage, his crew informed him that he was losing time “mainly in the middle sector”, but also that there was a “power difference” to Raikkonen, something Toto Wolff alluded to yesterday.
In the Ferrari camp, Vettel reported something “quite bad” around Turns 11 and 12 before being ordered to pit immediately, remaining in the Scuderia box for the remainder of the session.
Both Red Bull drivers moved up the order following good qualifying simulations, Verstappen placing himself P2, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
The order was frozen for the final minutes of the session, Raikkonen holding his own at the front while the struggling pair of Hamilton and Vettel was left to ponder its fate two hours before this evening’s thrilling qualifying session.
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