Bahrain, FP3: Leclerc quickest as Ferrari dominance continues

Hamilton 3rd and Bottas 4th

By Franck Drui

30 March 2019 - 14:08
Bahrain, FP3: Leclerc quickest as (...)

Ferrari completed a clean sweep of practice session one-twos at the Sakhir Circuit, with Charles Leclerc running quickest in the final hour of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver set a best time of 1:29.569 on the soft compound Pirelli tyres with a little under 20 minutes left in the session. He was immediately followed on track by team-mate Sebastian Vettel who slotted into P2 0.169s behind.

The pace left all of their rivals in the shade, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton eventually becoming the Scuderia’s closest rival with a late qualifying sim that boosted him above team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The defending champion’s time of 1:30.334 still left him 0.765s adrift of Leclerc.

Australian Grand Prix winner Bottas was left with fourth place and his best lap of 1:30.389 left as the last man to get within a second of the Ferraris.

Haas’ Romain Grosjean took fifth place in the session, 1.249s behind Leclerc with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg sixth thanks to a lap of 1:30.910.

McLaren rookie Lando Norris continued to impress setting a lap of 1:30.955 to claim seventh plac ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Red Bull have looked decidedly out of sorts at the Bahrain circuit, with both Verstappen and team-mate Pierre Gasly complaining of poor grip on the C3 soft compound Pirelli on offer this weekend.

Verstappen ended the final practice session 1.390s off Leclerc but it was an even more disappointing session for Gasly who finished in P12 almost half a second behind his team-mate.

Norris McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz took ninth place in the session ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat.

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF90 1:29.569 15
02 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF90 1:29.738 16
03 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W10 1:30.334 10
04 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes W10 1:30.389 12
05 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:30.818 14
06 Nico Hülkenberg Renault RS19 1:30.910 12
07 Lando Norris McLaren Renault MCL34 1:30.955 15
08 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RB15 1:30.959 10
09 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault MCL34 1:30.965 14
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:31.173 17
11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:31.333 21
12 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Honda RB15 1:31.392 13
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:31.540 13
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes RP19 1:31.618 16
15 Sergio Pérez Racing Point Mercedes RP19 1:31.638 9
16 Daniel Ricciardo Renault RS19 1:31.643 11
17 Alex Albon Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:31.679 17
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:32.132 21
19 George Russell Williams Mercedes FW42 1:33.387 14
20 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes FW42 1:33.525 13

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