Max Verstappen posted the quickest time but it was the pace of Mercedes that caught the eye in final practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
As teams completed final preparations ahead of the first qualifying, the reigning Formula 1 champion set an impressive early benchmark seven-tenths up on the rest of the grid.
But when the second set of soft tyres was introduced, it was Mercedes who brought themselves into play with Red Bull and Ferrari.
The porpoising did appear to be better on the straights, with Lewis Hamilton and then George Russell briefly going fastest.
Ultimately, Russell would finish fourth and Hamilton sixth, but much more on the pace with Lewis less than six-tenths behind Verstappen despite a mistake at Turn 10.
The timing screen right now… ? pic.twitter.com/WnnRIXr5WJ
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 19, 2022
The Dutchman is still the man to beat, however, as he would post a 1m32.544s on his second flying lap during his second run after a lock-up into Turn 1 ruined his first attempt.
Charles Leclerc remained his closest challenger in second, while Carlos Sainz was fifth half a second back.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez has been hit and miss so far, but the Mexican would move up to third to join what could be a very exclusive top six in 2022.
The chasing midfield pack appears very tight with 1.5secs covering seventh to 17th.
MAG punches in a ⏱ 1:33.437 to move up to P7!
Mick improves slightly but is P14 – he’s still got the time for another push lap. #HaasF1 #BahrainGP #FP3 pic.twitter.com/NyBXWmTiR1
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 19, 2022
Haas and Alfa Romeo continued to show promise of leading that group as Kevin Magnussen led Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.
Aston Martin also looks solid with Lance Stroll 10th and Nico Hulkenberg 12th, Lando Norris was the meat in the green sandwich in 11th for McLaren.
After leading FP1, Pierre Gasly continues to struggle in 13th, while AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda failed to get on track due to a hydraulics problem as he tried to leave the garage.
Mick Schumacher has more pace to come in 14th. Instead, it looks like Daniel Ricciardo, the two Alpines and two Williams cars will be those trying to avoid a Q1 elimination as they brought up the timesheets.
Back at the front, has Mercedes finally found a solution to their problems or have the sandbags finally started coming off? We’ll have to wait until qualifying to find out!
Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:
Who impressed you the most in the final practice session? ?
All ? turn to qualifying!#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g9XAzmR1Rx
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2022