2018 F1 Round 2 Bahrain GP FP3 — Räikkönen fastest, Verstappen follows

Bahrain’s third practice session took place on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the night sessions, and was the final official test before qualifying. Track temperatures would continue to fall towards sunset, leaving teams limited time to check single-lap setups, tyre preparation and braking performance. They also had to allow for changing conditions when comparing lap times across sessions.

Kimi Räikkönen remained quickest with a 1:29.868, 0.051 seconds slower than Friday’s fastest FP2 lap. Max Verstappen was second, 0.525 seconds behind, while Daniel Ricciardo was another 0.059 seconds back in third. Both Red Bulls reached the top three, as Ferrari and Red Bull each showed competitive pace before qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth, Sebastian Vettel fifth and Valtteri Bottas sixth, with the two Mercedes placed either side of Vettel. Vettel suffered damage to a component during practice but still finished near the front. Ferrari did not occupy all three leading positions, while the single-lap order alone could not determine where the teams would finish in qualifying.

Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz were seventh and eighth, followed by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in ninth. Fernando Alonso took tenth, Brendon Hartley eleventh and Romain Grosjean twelfth. A clear time gap remained between the leading midfield runner and the front of the field, while Renault, Toro Rosso and McLaren contested positions around the top-ten cut-off.

The two Force India drivers were thirteenth and fourteenth, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen fifteenth. Sauber and Williams runners were towards the back, including Charles Leclerc in eighteenth. Teams differed in their run timing and tyre choices, and in a short practice session the timing of an individual lap could have a greater effect on the order.

Verstappen and Ricciardo completed eight laps each, while session leader Räikkönen ran 15. Drivers’ lap totals and test programmes varied, so the top three did not necessarily reflect the long-run order. The engineers now had to turn the vehicle data into qualifying setups quickly after practice ended.

Räikkönen carried his FP2 pace into a second consecutive session at the top of the timesheets. Both Red Bulls followed, with Mercedes fourth and sixth. As the circuit moved into the night, qualifying would place further demands on tyre warm-up and single-lap execution. FP3 had provided the final practice window.

F1’s official FP3 results are listed below, with all 20 drivers setting timed laps. Räikkönen, Verstappen and Ricciardo formed the top three, while Vettel took fifth despite his component problem. The Q1–Q3 eliminations and final qualifying positions would provide the next test of this practice order.