Leclerc sets fastest time of test so far after fault halts Bottas · RaceFans

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time of the Bahrain test so far in the early session of the final day of running ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

Leclerc’s best time of a 1’31.024 on C4 tyres was comfortably quicker than any other driver so far in testing, with Russell going second-quickest on the C5 tyres, four tenths slower than the Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas suffered the only major problems of note in the session, stopping on track with just under 90 minutes remaining.

The final day of testing began with all ten teams quickly taking to the circuit. Sergio Perez had the Red Bull RB19 all to himself for the last day of running. He was sent out with a variety of aero rakes and sensors strapped to his car, but one of those small devices appeared to fall off the car at the exit of turn ten, prompting a quick red flag so a marshal could recover the debris.

After stopping on track with a hydraulic problem near the end of Friday’s evening running, Russell was back out early in the Mercedes. He set the early pace with a 1’33.685, before Nico Hulkenberg put Haas on top with a time three tenths faster than Russell.

Oscar Piastri had his final session of the test in the McLaren MCL60. The rookie suffered a 360 degree spin, losing control of the car over the bumps entering turn nine and the difficult downhill braking zone for turn ten. He recovered back onto the track without issue, before improving on his next lap to go second behind Hulkenberg.

Perez put in a 1’33.167 to claim the top spot for Red Bull for the first time in the day. But then Russell took to the circuit on C4 soft tyres and clocked comfortably the fastest time of the session with a 1’31.707, just half a tenth away from Max Verstappen’s personal best time from Friday. Soon after, Mercedes opted to send him back on on the softest C5 compound and he improved by over a tenth to set a new overall best time of the test with a 1’31.564, better than Zhou Guanyu’s best time from yesterday.

Mercedes’ time at the top was short-lived, however, as Leclerc jumped to the top of the times with a 1’31.164. Not only was Leclerc’s new fastest time over a quarter of a second quicker than Russell’s previous best, the Ferrari driver had set it on C4 soft tyres, rather than the C5s on which Russell had set his quickest time. Soon after, Leclerc shaved a tenth off his own best time, lowering the best lap of the test to a 1’31.024.

Advert |