Formula 1 drivers and teams contested the EL3 of the Bahrain Grand Prix under the sun of Sakhir. This was the last test for all F1 2022 cars before the first qualifying session, which will take place at 4 p.m. French time.
The Alfa Romeo drivers set a time on hard tires of 1’38”, which is hardly representative. The first quarter of an hour was calm, since it was not until the 15th minute that Lewis Hamilton could set a time of 1 ’34″256 on soft tires, and take control.
He was then ahead of Lando Norris and Nico Hülkenberg, who had both set a time on medium tyres. The latter also confirmed to his garage that porpoising was not a problem on his AMR22.
George Russell set a time two tenths behind Hamilton, before Carlos Sainz took the best time in 1’34.217. He was quickly beaten by his teammate at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, who set a 1’33” 797.
Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou took fifth and sixth place in the standings on soft tyres. However, the lap times were quite far from those of the Ferraris in particular.
Despite a long accelerator pedal, according to his words on the radio, Sergio Pérez signed the second time, three tenths of a second from the reference set by Leclerc shortly before.
At McLaren, the situation continued to worsen, with new problems for Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian’s MCL36 was the victim of a leak. On the Norris side, McLaren was still collecting aero data with Flo-Vis paintproving that the team was still in search of understanding.
Max Verstappen then took to the track and went for a time of 1’33″035 on his first fast lap. Although it is still early to draw conclusions, it goes in the direction of Toto Wolff, who presumed this morning that Red Bull is in a league of its own.
Meanwhile, Russell was complaining about the behavior of the Mercedes W13. The Briton reported an understeer problem at the apex on Brackley’s latest single-seater.
Leclerc then spun at turn number 11, as he attempted a fast turn. The Ferrari driver was able to avoid crashing into the gravel and returned to his pit within seconds.
Kevin Magnussen took sixth fastest time between the Mercedes F1s, just as Ricciardo finally took to the track. For his part, Yuki Tsunoda was stuck in the garage by a mechanical problem. Pierre Gasly set a modest 14th time.
Tsunoda’s attempt to take the trail ended in failure. The steering wheel did not turn the wheels and the Japanese confirmed that he was unable to steer his AlphaTauri, also complaining of an oil smell.
Sainz moved past Pérez mid-session. On the side of Williams, Alex Albon complained about front tires “destroyed” after four turns. The team was far in the standings yesterday and the FW44 seems to be struggling to exploit the soft tyres.
Hamilton then set a reassuring time for Mercedes with the second fastest time, 0.086 behind Verstappen. This is the first time this weekend that we have seen the Briton go so high on the time sheet.
Sainz improved in turn less than 20 minutes from the end of the session, and came within 18 thousandths of Verstappen. We found ourselves with a Red Bull, a Ferrari and a Mercedes in less than a tenth of a second.
Russell then set the fastest time in 1’32.935, a tenth better than Mercedes. The track was clearly improving, as we saw the Alfa Romeos of Bottas and Zhou in fifth and seventh place.
Leclerc then regained control, improving Russell’s time by almost 3/10ths of a second. The time of 1’32″640 allowed him to point to the top of the time sheet.
Verstappen immediately replied, but without the gap seen at the start of the session. The Red Bull driver beat the Monegasque Ferrari in 1’32.544. Pérez took the third fastest time.
Note that the Alpine F1 drivers, more discreet than yesterday, had not done a single time with the soft tires at this time of the session. It was the moment when the Aston Martin drivers finally rolled out the redwall tyres.
Lance Stroll entered the top 10 in ninth place, and Nico Hülkenberg took 11th place. The Haas riders came out on soft tyres, and Kevin Magnussen took seventh place.
An investigation was launched against Ferrari for releasing Sainz ahead of Alonso in the pit lane. The Scuderia faces a possible fine for this error, but no sporting penalty will be imposed.
Verstappen finished in the lead by less than a tenth of a second ahead of Leclerc. Pérez is third ahead of Russell, Sainz and Hamilton, with the three teams monopolizing the top six.
Magnussen is seventh ahead of Alfa Romeo and Stroll, then Norris, Hülkenberg, Gasly and Schumacher. Ricciardo follows in front of Alonso, Albon and Esteban Ocon, but the Alpine F1 drivers did not do any laps on soft tires this afternoon. Latifi is 19th ahead of Tsunoda, who did not ride.
| Pos. | Pilot | Car | Time | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | 1:32.544 | 15 |
| 02 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:32.640 | 61 |
| 03 | sergio perez | Red Bull RBPT RB18 | 1:32.791 | 20 |
| 04 | George Russell | Mercedes W13 | 1:32.935 | 19 |
| 05 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari F1-75 | 1:33.053 | 20 |
| 06 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W13 | 1:33.121 | 15 |
| 07 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:33.437 | 15 |
| 08 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | 1:33.733 | 21 |
| 09 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 | 1:33.880 | 18 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:33.920 | 14 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:33.955 | 18 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 | 1:33.971 | 18 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | 1:34.176 | 18 |
| 14 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari VF-22 | 1:34.295 | 17 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes MCL36 | 1:34.378 | 20 |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:34.628 | 15 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:34.868 | 15 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault A522 | 1:34.957 | 16 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes FW44 | 1:35.667 | 14 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 | – :—.— | 0 |