Sergio Perez went quickest for Red Bull on the final morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
After focusing on the harder tyres across the first two days, the Anglo-Austrian squad bolted a set of the C4 compound onto the RB16B in the final hour, with Checo posting a 1m30.187s, the fastest time seen so far this week.
The most attention-grabbing lap-time though was set by Charles Leclerc, who was only three-tenths slower than Perez on the C3 rubber for Ferrari.
More notable was that time came just 30 minutes into the four-hour session, when track conditions were cooler but also dustier than when the Mexican beat him.
Leclerc wasn’t just quick in the SF21 either as he also completed 80 laps before handing over to Carlos Sainz for the afternoon.
After Daniel Ricciardo had led the past two mornings for McLaren, Lando Norris could only manage third in the MCL35M.
Pierre Gasly continued AlphaTauri’s strong week in fourth ahead of fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon in the Alpine.
Mick Schumacher put another 78 laps on the Haas in sixth. With Valtteri Bottas managing eight more in the Mercedes, albeit over two seconds behind Perez in seventh.
Sunday marks George Russell’s only test day ahead of the first race in two weeks time, and the Briton began with a strong 77 laps for Williams in eighth.
The busiest man on track was Kimi Raikkonen, as the 42-year-old focused on long runs with a mammoth 92 laps in the Alfa Romeo. The 2007 world champion will also drive in the afternoon, proving even at this stage of his career he’s as fit as they come.
Finally, Lance Stroll rounded out the morning order in the Aston Martin in 10th.
So far this week, lap times have improved by two seconds in the afternoon/evening, as teams run in the cooler temperatures under the lights
And with many big hitters also set to hit the track, some will no doubt want to leave their mark on the final day of F1’s pre-season.
Full results from the morning can be seen below:
