Charles Leclerc quickest in FP3 as Ferrari dominance continues
Sakhir, 30 March 2019: 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.
2019 FIA Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 15 1:29.569
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 16 1:29.738 0.169
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 10 1:30.334 0.765
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 12 1:30.389 0.820
5 Romain Grosjean Haas 14 1:30.818 1.249
6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 12 1:30.910 1.341
7 Lando Norris McLaren 15 1:30.955 1.386
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 10 1:30.959 1.390
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 14 1:30.965 1.396
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 17 1:31.173 1.604
11 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 21 1:31.333 1.764
12 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 13 1:31.392 1.823
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 13 1:31.540 1.971
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point 16 1:31.618 2.049
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 9 1:31.638 2.069
16 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 11 1:31.643 2.074
17 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 17 1:31.679 2.110
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 21 1:32.132 2.563
19 George Russell Williams 14 1:33.387 3.818
20 Robert Kubica Williams 13 1:33.525 3.956
