Sakhir Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen leads, Gasly in pursuit

Verstappen took control over the Mercedes during the last free practice session on the outer track of the Sakhir Grand Prix with a lap time of 0:54.064, ahead of Bottas and Gasly. The Frenchman was well-placed throughout the session while Russell, struggling, finished 7th.

A calm start to the session where only Fittipaldi appeared on track before being joined by his teammate and Norris 15 minutes later. With all the drivers on track, managing traffic became crucial to getting a clean lap.

Bottas set the fastest lap in 0:54.880 on soft tires ahead of Russell in 0:55.000 and Kvyat in 0:55.144. They are followed by Verstappen in 0:55.194 and Gasly in 0:55.252, both on hard tires! The AlphaTauri cars have pace and have found good settings. Only the Racing Points used medium tires.

Verstappen spun at the entrance of turn 3 without any serious consequences. He complained about his radio constantly being on, which distracts him and affects his concentration while he was working on the hard tires at the beginning of the session. Maybe he wants to try using them in Q2 to start the race with them?

Vettel took advantage of a lull on the track to set a lap in 0:54.858 and position himself between Bottas and Russell, but the Ferrari driver will undergo an engine change before qualifying. Russell improved his mark to regain his second position but remains +0.4s behind his teammate. The Englishman has been trailing since the start of the session.

The last 10 minutes allowed the drivers to prepare optimally for the qualifications. With a very clean lap, Verstappen took the lead ahead of Bottas and Gasly. Good laps from Ocon and Norris, who placed ahead of Albon and Russell. The Racing Points and Sainz complete the top 10.

Despite a good start to the session, the Ferraris ended up in the second half of the standings with an impressive display from Leclerc, who finished the session with a spin on the starting straight.

Complete ranking: