Everything you need to know about Bahrain FP3

Max Verstappen and Red Bull made it a clean sweep of Bahrain Grand Prix practice sessions on Saturday, with a time substantially quicker than Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton in second.

Key moments:

> Verstappen fastest by commanding 0.739s
> Gasly splits Mercedes to take third
> Sainz sixth for Ferrari on medium tyres
> Leclerc and Mazepin both have spins

Verstappen’s late 1m30.577s lap put him 0.739s clear of Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Mercedes had been back in its usual 1-2 formation for a long period thanks to doing its soft tyre laps earlier than Red Bull, but Hamilton and fourth-placed Valtteri Bottas ended up split by Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri. The two Mercedes were half a second apart.

Sergio Perez was a full 1.3s slower than Red Bull team-mate Verstappen in fifth.

Ferrari could take encouragement from Carlos Sainz Jr going an impressive sixth using medium tyres. His team-mate Charles Leclerc was 11th and had an early spin out of the opening complex.

Slippin' and slidin' Charles Leclerc 🛹#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/IPQ32HWfVd

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2021

Kimi Raikkonen was a surprise seventh for Alfa Romeo, followed by Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and the leading McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo in 10th.

Ocon and Stroll’s illustrious team-mates were down in the midfield, with Sebastian Vettel 14th and needing a spell in the garage after his Aston Martin struck debris, and Fernando Alonso 15th in the second Alpine.

Lando Norris, the Williams and Haas made up the tail-end group. Nikita Mazepin had a spin in the middle sector but continued unscathed.

A spin for @nikita_mazepin in the middle sector 🔄#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/hXuX5FWXsn

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2021

Practice 3 Results