McLaren comfortably quickest, Tsunoda last in final practice · F1 · RaceFans

Oscar Piastri completed a clean sweep of practice sessions for McLaren in Bahrain, beating team mate Lando Norris by six tenths of a second in the final hour of running before qualifying.

However lap times in the third practice session were over a second slower than yesterday.

Track conditions were not quite as hot as in first practice yesterday, but still well above the temperatures which are expected for qualifying. Several drivers remarked the track lacked grp.

George Russell was among them after spinning his Mercedes at the exit of turn 10. “I’d probably go as far as saying that’s the least amount of grip I’ve ever had in an F1 car,” the said afterwards.

Russell ended the session fourth fastest, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was the only driver to get within a second of Piastri.

Pierre Gasly impressed with the sixth-fastest time in his Alpine, but was in are of the McLaren drivers’ pace. “I can’t believe how fast these McLarens are at the moment,” he remarked near the end of the session.

As usual, Racing Bulls appeared to reveal more of their pace than the senior Red Bull team, Isack Hadjar taking seventh ahead of Max Verstappen.

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Carlos Sainz Jnr was ninth for Williams but reported a potential problem with his car on the way back to the pits. “There’s something with the engine that is not behaving normal,” he told his team. Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg’s session came to an early end when his Sauber ground to a halt halfway around a lap. A Virtual Safety Car period was used while his C45 was pushed behind a barrier.

But despite completing just seven laps he still ended the session ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. The new Red Bull driver was last, almost two seconds off team mate Verstappen.