2024 F1 Round 1, Bahrain GP FP3: Sainz Fastest in 1:30.824, Three Teams in the Top Three, First 14 Within 0.847 Seconds

Final practice for the 2024 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix concluded at Sakhir on the evening of 1 March Beijing time. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz led the session with a 1:30.824, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen: three different teams occupied the top three places. Just 0.847 seconds separated first from fourteenth, underlining the closely matched field.

Friday at Sakhir was sunny, with an air temperature of 20°C and a track temperature of 33°C. All 20 cars took part in the one-hour final practice session as they completed their preparations for qualifying.

Mercedes slipped back after taking the top two positions in second practice. George Russell was sixth, sandwiched between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while FP2 pacesetter Lewis Hamilton fell to twelfth. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was eighth and reported gearbox-shifting problems similar to those experienced by team-mate Verstappen.

RB, fastest in opening practice, continued to slide down the order in FP3. Daniel Ricciardo was only eleventh, 0.053 seconds behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Yuki Tsunoda finished thirteenth, reducing the gap to his team-mate to 0.182 seconds, the smallest margin between them across the three practice sessions.

Alpine faced an increasingly difficult situation, with Esteban Ocon eighteenth and Pierre Gasly twentieth, both hovering around the Q1 elimination zone. Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas were sixteenth and seventeenth respectively. Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg continued his encouraging second-practice form in ninth, while Kevin Magnussen was fourteenth.