Bahrain – Free Practice 3: In the heat, Ferrari and Vettel take control

The third and final free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix starts in the heat – 25° in the air and 40° on the track, under the sun. The warmer track conditions compared to the first two sessions yesterday should allow the competition to get closer to the Mercedes, which were dominant in cooler conditions.

There are many notable figures in the paddock for this second race of the year, as one can encounter Jean Todt, the President of the FIA, as well as two former teammates from Ferrari and Benetton: Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.

At the beginning of the session, Romain Grosjean is the first to hit the track with the Haas, while the Williams team is refining a new short nose that will be tested for the first time this afternoon.

Jenson Button, an impressive 3rd yesterday during FP2, seems to be having a bit more difficulty today. He is already complaining about strange noises on his car during his installation lap. As a result, Stoffel Vandoorne is delaying his track debut and the mechanics are busy working on his car.

BUT: “Car sounds a little bit different than normal”. Problem for @JensonButton? #FP3 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/6pYrPnXaTa

— Formula 1 (@F1) 2 avril 2016

The first benchmark time is credited to Daniel Ricciardo with 1:34.726. He is joined in the standings by Pascal Wehrlein, who places his Manor more than a second and a half behind the Australian, before Sergio Perez puts his Force India at the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:34.281, just ahead of his teammate Nico Hülkenberg. The two drivers of the Indian team might feel more comfortable under the heat after a rather disappointing start to the weekend.

During his first fast lap, Sebastian Vettel is hindered by Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso, who is also on a timed lap. The trajectories of the two drivers are quite different. The German strings together laps and records a disappointing 1:34.909. Meanwhile, the two Mercedes drivers play the twin brothers by achieving the same time: 1:33.150, with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton in the standings. The best time is soon beaten by Valtteri Bottas on Super-soft tires, then Kimi Räikkönen with 1:32.863 on Soft tires. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa manages to slip into 5th place.

In the last half hour, many drivers, like Sebastian Vettel, are focusing on long runs. At McLaren, the situation has improved for Jenson Button, who is back on track, unlike Vandoorne, whose mechanics are still tending to his MP4-31 in the pits.

Few drivers are on the track as they approach the last 20 minutes of the session. Wehrlein, Verstappen, Marcus Ericsson, and the two Force Indias are pounding the pavement.

Stoffel Vandoorne finally takes to the track and already performs a practice start at the pit exit, followed by Kevin Magnussen, Massa, and Ricciardo. The Belgian driver sets his first time of the day at 1:36.041, struggling to maintain his car’s balance out of the corners, all under the watchful eye of Fernando Alonso.

In the final minutes, the Mercedes team comes out on the Super-soft tires with the goal of reclaiming the best time from Räikkönen’s Ferrari. And the plan works perfectly as Lewis Hamilton improves the Finnish driver’s reference by 7 tenths, immediately beaten by Rosberg.

Mmmm… those look SUPER soft… #F1 #BahrainGP #FP3 pic.twitter.com/9hoVX8tSnT

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 2 avril 2016

The two Ferraris take to the track in turn, also on super-softs, and Kimi Räikkönen improves his time to 1:31.723, followed by Vettel with a 1:31.683, pushing his teammate from first place, while Romain Grosjean, quietly, climbs to 5th place.

A lot of traffic on the track and constant improvements for Esteban Gutierrez, Valtteri Bottas, and Pascal Wehrlein. Some drivers have decided not to use Super-soft tires for this final practice session of the weekend, such as both Force India drivers and those from Toro Rosso.

In the final seconds, Vandoorne fits the softest tires from the range offered by Pirelli and sets the 14th fastest time, just 4 hundredths behind Jenson Button. In his last lap, Jolyon Palmer suffers a puncture on the left rear of his Renault. He manages to bring the RS.16 back to the pit without any issues.

The session ends with the best times from the two Ferraris, ahead of the two Mercedes drivers who showed their limits in warmer track conditions. But the qualifying and the race will take place at night, which should logically give the advantage back to Rosberg and Hamilton.

The final standings of FP3:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP3) #FP3 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/QxvKykTBUw

— Formula 1 (@F1) 2 avril 2016