Max Verstappen, the reigning F1 World Champion, laid down the marker in Bahrain setting the fastest time on the circuit before the racing season begins at the same venue next week.
A red flag caused by Valtteri Bottas’s stoppage left 20 minutes for a final time attack during which Max Verstappen set the fastest lap and improved to a benchmark of 1m 31.720s – the fastest seen across the three days in Bahrain.
The result left previous leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari second, 0.695s slower than the Dutchman, and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P3. George Russell was demoted to P4 with his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton finishing 17th.
Bottas shot to P5 before stopping at Turn 8 to trigger the second red flag of the day. His new teammate Zhou Guanyu finished P11 after promising laps in the morning.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went wheel-to-wheel with Russell in the evening before finishing P6. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished seventh overall, ahead of Haas’s Mick Schumacher.
Lando Norris promoted himself to P9 very late on with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, still sidelined with Covid-19. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel enjoyed a productive evening on his way to P10.
Bahrain will host the first round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship on March 20th. Max Verstappen is looking to defend his crown against eight time winner Lewis Hamilton. The new seaon promises to be one for the ages.
