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Max Verstappen denied Mercedes a clean sweep of the Sakhir Grand Prix practice sessions setting a benchmark of 54.064s in FP3, to finish ahead of P2 Valtteri Bottas and P3 Pierre Gasly under the lights in Bahrain.
Red Bull’s Verstappen rode on hard tires at the start of the session at Turn 2 but shrugged to deny Bottas first place in the final session before qualifying. The two were separated by 0.206 on this short track, while his Verstappen teammate Alex Albon was half a second behind him in P6.
IDEAL LAP: Why Bottas will be happier than his lap times suggest
Our ideal lap analysis implied that Valtteri Bottas had a lot more time to gain after a disappointing pair of Friday practice sessions, and here he delivered with a lap of 54.270 seconds with just over 15 minutes to go, for finish second fastest on soft tires. The leader of FP1 and FP2, George Russell, could only manage the seventh, getting stuck heavily on a late race.
In third place, AlphaTauri’s Gasly, 0.363 seconds off the top spot, with teammate Daniil Kvyat about six tenths off P14 in another solid performance for the Honda team.
|
1 Max Verstappen WATCH Red bull racing |
54,064 |
|
2 Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes |
+ 0.206 s |
|
3 Pierre Gasly GAS AlphaTauri |
+ 0.363 s |
|
4 Esteban Ocon HOLLOW Renault |
+ 0.389 s |
|
5 Country Norris OR Mclaren |
+ 0.542 s |
Renault’s Esteban Ocon finished P4 in FP3, just 0.026 seconds behind compatriot Gasly. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo had a scary moment on a late run in Sector 2, creating a shower of sparks as he crossed the sidewalks to finish P14 overall.
McLaren had Lando Norris completing the top five and Carlos Sainz completing the top 10 – but the two were divided by just over a tenth, which underscores how close the midfield battle is on this track setup. Outer Loop tight.
READ MORE: Friday Pace Analysis – Why Data Hints It’s All In The Game In Sakhir’s GP
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez took the P8, just 0.015 seconds behind his P9 teammate Lance Stroll in a muffled display of pace for the team in pink.
Ferrari occupied 13th and 15th, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Sebastian Vettel. The two were separated by 0.004s (and Ricciardo 14th) as they seemed to be neck and neck ahead of qualifying. Vettel’s session ended early as he encountered a power supply failure with about 15 minutes left. Its engineers now find themselves with the task of changing its engine, as a precaution, before qualifying. Leclerc spun in his last lap, destroying hopes of improving 13th place.
2020 Sakhir FP3 Grand Prix: Verstappen turns on difficult turn 2
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi had a P11 in this session, but Kimi Raikkonen could only finish 16th, while Williams had Nicholas Latifi 18th and Jack Aitken – replacing George Russell this weekend – last of the session, all the peloton divided by just 1,606s.
READ MORE: Drivers predict traffic ‘carnage’ in qualifying on Sakhir GP outer loop short
As for Haas, Pietro Fittipaldi was the first driver to do laps and finished 19th. The Haas rookie, who replaces Romain Grosjean, injured this weekend, will be hit with a grid penalty as he took on new control electronics and a new power reserve this weekend – overtaking the car allowance. Haas regular Kevin Magnussen finished 17th.
The qualifying battle then seems wide open, as we wait for what should be an exciting session under the lights of the Bahrain International Circuit at 2000 local time.
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