McLaren comfortably quickest, Tsunoda last for Red Bull in final practice | Formula 1

Oscar Piastri completed a clean sweep of practice sessions for McLaren in Bahrain, beating team mate Lando Norris by six tenths of a second in the final hour of running before qualifying.

However lap times in the third practice session were over a second slower than yesterday.

Track conditions were not quite as hot as in first practice yesterday, but still well above the temperatures which are expected for qualifying. Several drivers remarked the track lacked grp.

George Russell was among them after spinning his Mercedes at the exit of turn 10. “I’d probably go as far as saying that’s the least amount of grip I’ve ever had in an F1 car,” the said afterwards.

Russell ended the session fourth fastest, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was the only driver to get within a second of Piastri.

Pierre Gasly impressed with the sixth-fastest time in his Alpine, but was in are of the McLaren drivers’ pace. “I can’t believe how fast these McLarens are at the moment,” he remarked near the end of the session.

As usual, Racing Bulls appeared to reveal more of their pace than the senior Red Bull team, Isack Hadjar taking seventh ahead of Max Verstappen.

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Carlos Sainz Jnr was ninth for Williams but reported a potential problem with his car on the way back to the pits. “There’s something with the engine that is not behaving normal,” he told his team. Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg’s session came to an early end when his Sauber ground to a halt halfway around a lap. A Virtual Safety Car period was used while his C45 was pushed behind a barrier.

But despite completing just seven laps he still ended the session ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. The new Red Bull driver was last, almost two seconds off team mate Verstappen.

2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Grand Prix third practice result

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Grand Prix combined practice times

P.	#	Driver	Team	FP1 time	FP2 time	FP3 time	Gap	Laps
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1’34.508	1’30.505	1’31.646		67
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’33.204	1’30.659	1’32.314	0.154	69
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes		1’31.032	1’32.827	0.527	38
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari		1’31.045	1’32.480	0.540	46
5	12	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1’38.051	1’31.227	1’32.916	0.722	42
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1’34.667	1’31.238	1’33.023	0.733	61
7	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT		1’31.330	1’33.027	0.825	40
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1’33.800	1’31.576	1’33.111	1.071	64
9	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari		1’31.584	1’34.335	1.079	45
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Williams-Mercedes		1’31.623	1’33.092	1.118	43
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’33.928	1’31.696	1’33.753	1.191	57
12	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1’34.397	1’31.706	1’33.370	1.201	54
13	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber-Ferrari	1’34.628	1’31.772	1’34.518	1.267	64
14	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	1’34.396	1’31.788	1’33.347	1.283	68
15	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes		1’31.825	1’33.548	1.320	37
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	1’34.184	1’31.870	1’33.240	1.365	63
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1’33.442	1’31.947	1’32.974	1.442	68
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’34.484	1’32.024	1’34.965	1.519	63
19	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’35.116	1’32.382	1’34.363	1.877	66
20	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	1’34.262	1’32.496	1’34.636	1.991	55
21	46	Luke Browning	Williams-Mercedes	1’34.885			4.380	20
22	38	Dino Beganovic	Ferrari	1’35.055			4.550	20
23	34	Felipe Drugovich	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’35.198			4.693	19
24	50	Ryo Hirakawa	Haas-Ferrari	1’35.261			4.756	20
25	72	Frederik Vesti	Mercedes	1’35.325			4.820	26
26	37	Ayumu Iwasa	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’35.475			4.970	20