Welcome back to Bahrain for the third and final day of F1 Testing 2024. Follow all the latest action with us from the Sakhir International circuit.
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Main headlines: Further drain cover issues within opening half hour, one-hour break scrapped due to drain repairs with session running straight through to 1900 finish.
1 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari 1:31.247 71 laps
2 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.236 53 laps
3 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.752 49 laps
4 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.791 46 laps
5 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.861 20 laps
6 Alexander ALBON Williams +1.336 38 laps
7 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +1.806 80 laps
8 Esteban OCON Alpine +1.832 55 laps
9 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +2.281 28 laps
10 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +5.768 70 laps
11 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +7.807 10 laps
(Last updated 1508 local time)
Session times (local time): 1000-1900
1507: It’s Oscar Piastri circling the track on his own at the moment on the C1 tyre, looking like a race run for McLaren as the first of the ‘new’ drivers to take their seat for the afternoon.
1500: Just as drivers are swapping over, PF1 is also swapping with me heading out for Jamie.
1455: Piastri is onto his first quick lap of the day but by no means a flying one, he finishes with a time of 1:41.072.
1448: Speaking of new drivers, Oscar Piastri is getting into the MCL38 for the first time today.
1443: It’s very much driver hand over time with both Hamilton and Perez swapping out for Russell and Verstappen.
1439: Albon is back out now for some more testing.
1433: Sainz, who has a huge amount of flow-vis on his car, has done his run and is back in the garage.
1417: CAR ON TRACK KLAXON. It’s the pole sitter Carlos Sainz.
1411: It’s a quiet track out there with just Alex Albon driving currently. Sergio Perez was with him but he returned to the pits and just as I type this, Albon too comes in.
1409: Sam Cooper hopping into the seat now and my thanks to Jamie as he heads off for a well deserved break.
1355: Perez has returned to the track, with the RB20 rear wing sporting a large helping of flow-vis paint.
1350: Hamilton and Sainz continue on their race runs, with Magnussen and Esteban Ocon also still out on the track in what is a rather quiet period currently.
1326: Hamilton and Magnussen are treating us to a battle. Hamilton uses the aid of DRS to pass Magnussen’s Haas at Turn 4, who follows the Mercedes through to Turn 8 where Hamilton locks up, though Magnussen does not try to push his way back through.
1317: Sauber and McLaren have the screens up at their respective garages. Norris has managed only 20 laps in the McLaren MCL38 so far today.
1258: Conditions are heating up and the Pirelli rubber is feeling it as Albon rescues a major slide in his Williams FW46 at Turn 13.
1253: While Hamilton said yesterday that the W15 is a “clear improvement”, it still looks a handful as he gets all out of shape exiting Turn 10.
1237: Perez has a good go at toppling Sainz’s current P1 time, but falls two-tenths short on the C3s.
1232: He may be at the bottom of the timings, but RB’s Daniel Ricciardo is leading the lap count so far today at 32 and rising.
Daniel Ricciardo driving the RB.
1218: Stroll goes fastest of anyone through the first sector, but P4 is ultimately the extent of his improvement, eight-tenths adrift of Sainz.
1214: Hamilton decided to skip the C4 and go all the way to the C5 tyre, improving to P3, seven-and-a-half tenths down on Sainz.
1201: Stroll gets on the throttle a bit too early out of the final corner and runs off the road, easing off the gas and getting back on track. Race simulations are the order of the day currently.
1155: Lewis Hamilton finds some traffic in the form of Perez through Turns 6/7, but we did not see our first hand waved in frustration of the year. Still we wait.
1145: There is the green light! We are back underway and, hopefully, running all the way through to the end of F1 2024 pre-season testing come 1900.
1128: Right, settle in for the long haul, once the session resumes, it will run continuously all the way through to 1900 local time with no break.
1116: We have a targeted session restart of 1145 local time.
1100: Still under red flags as frantic work takes place to weld that drain cover back into position.
1032: So it was Perez’s Red Bull RB20 that dislodged the drain cover down at Turn 11.
Sergio Perez in action in the Red Bull RB20.
1028: Not again! That dislodged drain cover that broke the Ferrari SF-24 floor yesterday morning, and caused an early end to the session, has come loose again. Red flags are out.
1022: Lando Norris gets within a tenth of Sainz on the C3s, but the headline times are to come later. Just as Sainz puts nine-tenths between himself and his former McLaren team-mate with a fresh push lap.
1013: Carlos Sainz has the C4 rubber bolted onto his Ferrari once more, with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo also running that compound versus the remaining runners on C3s in these early stages. Sainz’s 1:32.017 is the very early time to beat.
1007: Valtteri Bottas looks like he is sitting in F1’s equivalent of the naughty corner, watching on from the back of the garage, wearing a forlorn look, while his team get that Sauber ready for track action.
1002: A busy track from the start with Perez heading straight out. Lance Stroll is sporting some huge aero rakes on the side of his Aston Martin.
1000: Green light, let’s go!
0955: With Verstappen back in the RB20 this afternoon, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top… OK, it will be interesting to see how big his advantage actually is.
0943: It’s another beautiful day at the Sakhir circuit with 19 of this year’s 20 drivers in action, only Logan Sargeant misses out having had his solo day on Thursday.
The full line-up for today:
Red Bull – Sergio Perez AM / Max Verstappen PM
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton AM / George Russell PM
Ferrari – Carlos Sainz AM / Charles Leclerc PM
McLaren – Lando Norris AM / Oscar Piastri PM
Aston Martin -Lance Stroll AM / Fernando Alonso PM
Alpine – Esteban Ocon AM / Pierre Gasly PM
Williams – Alex Albon
RB – Daniel Ricciardo AM / Yuki Tsunoda PM
Sauber – Valtteri Bottas AM / Zhou Guanyu PM
Haas – Kevin Magnussen AM / Nico Hulkenberg PM
0936: It’s the third and final day of F1 pre-season testing and the big question is who will top this evening’s glory runs? Because that’s how testing usually ends, one final chance to create the headlines.
0930: Friday already! Good morning and welcome back to Bahrain for the final day of F1 Testing – where has the time gone?! Before we get underway for the final time today in 30 mins, we’ll whizz through today’s driver line-ups, shall we?
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