Verstappen quickest as Bahrain F1 test ends

In a frantic final hour of the afternoon session, Verstappen used Pirelli's soft C4 compound to set a time of 1m28.960s, one tenth quicker than AlphaTauri rookie Yuki Tsunoda.

After a tame morning session, in which most teams focused on long runs, times gradually started tumbling as day turned into night at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Past the halfway point, Verstappen used unmarked medium tyres to set a 1m29.942s, the fastest time of the week at that point, as the first driver to dip below the 1m30s mark.

Verstappen momentarily made it a 1-2 for Red Bull after teammate Sergio Perez topped the morning session, but laptimes kept falling as several drivers took on Pirelli's two softest compounds in the final stages of the four-hour session.

With just under an hour to go Tsunoda came to the fore with a 1m29.777s lap, taking two tenths out of Verstappen's benchmark.

Tsunoda's time was immediately beaten by Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen on the softest C5 compound, and then again by Verstappen on mediums.

The Japanese Red Bull and Honda protege regained the lead with laps of 1m29.671s and then 1m29.282s, only for Verstappen to set his overall fastest lap of 1m28.960s with 30 minutes to go.

Tsunoda approached Verstappen's time with a 1m29.053s, less than one tenth behind the Red Bull, to cap off an impressive showing by the Faenza squad.

Late on, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz grabbed third with a 1m29.611s lap on softs followed by Raikkonen, who led the distance charts with a mammoth 165 laps.

World champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth after a low-key afternoon.

Hamilton gradually chipped away at his personal benchmarks while gathering data for Mercedes but also suffered a spin coming out of the final corner.

Williams driver George Russell, who made his first appearance in the 2021 car on Sunday, amassed 157 laps on his way to sixth place, followed by McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo.

Perez's leading morning time was good for eighth, ahead of Alpine's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Morning runners Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon slipped out of the top 10, followed by Haas duo Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, and Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas.

Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll ended up on the bottom of the timetable, having opted not to focus on competitive lap times.

After completing 56 laps in the afternoon, Vettel's stint ended early due to a turbo issue for the Mercedes customer team.

The final session of the weekend was largely free of incidents, apart from last-minute contact between Raikkonen and Sainz at Turn 10.

Due to an apparent misunderstanding the pair made sideways contact at the apex of the tight left-hander, but both drivers continued without meaningful damage.

In two weeks the F1 paddock reconvenes in Sakhir for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.

Bahrain Formula 1 Test - Day 3

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	64	1'28.960
2	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	91	1'29.053	0.093
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	79	1'29.611	0.651
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	166	1'29.766	0.806
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	54	1'30.025	1.065
6	George Russell	Williams	158	1'30.117	1.157
7	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	76	1'30.144	1.184
8	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	49	1'30.187	1.227
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	78	1'30.318	1.358
10	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	80	1'30.486	1.526
11	Lando Norris	McLaren	56	1'30.661	1.701
12	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	76	1'30.828	1.868
13	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	61	1'31.310	2.350
14	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	67	1'31.531	2.571
15	Mick Schumacher	Haas	78	1'32.053	3.093
16	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	86	1'32.406	3.446
17	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	56	1'35.041	6.081
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	80	1'36.100	7.140
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