Everything that happened in final Bahrain GP F1 practice

Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen edged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.096s in the final practice session before qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Key moments

– Mercedes briefly fastest
– Leclerc spins but close to Verstappen
– Red Bull still has the edge

Verstappen had a sluggish run through the opening turn on his qualifying simulation but recovered the time across the rest of the lap to top the session on a 1m32.544s on the soft tyres.

Just before the halfway mark in the session, Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari on the exit of the Turn 11 left-hander where he spun in FP1.

Charles Leclerc spins at Turn 11, where he went off on Friday

He is able to keep his car rolling and get back on track#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/1PUQIPBriC

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2022

His Ferrari was sent into the gravel, but he managed to rejoin the track and continued to set the fastest time just before Verstappen knocked him off the top spot a few moments later.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was 0.247s of the Dutchman in third place while Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top four.

Carlos Sainz was fifth ahead of the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton’s whose struggles with the W13 continued. Though he did cut his sizeable Friday deficit to Verstappen from 1.2s to 0.577s.

Kevin Magnussen continued Haas’s strong season-opening weekend with the seventh fastest time ahead of the Alfa Romeo duo of Valtteri Bottas and his Zhou Guanyu.

With a late flying lap, Lance Stroll moved his Aston Martin into 10th place ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Pierre Gasly, who topped FP1, was 13th in third practice ahead of the second Haas of Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo.

Alpine’s drivers didn’t conduct qualifying simulations, so Fernando Alonso was 16th ahead of Alex Albon (Williams), his team-mate Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda failed to leave the garage after his team discovered a hydraulic issue aboard his AT03 when he attempted to set off before realising that he “couldn’t turn” the steering wheel.

Practice 3 Results