Bahrain Grand Prix 2022: The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton lit up in Free Practice 3 (FP3) as both the drivers came close to topple each other from the top spot ahead of the Qualification. Though Max set the fastest pace, quite a few drivers took the top spot throughout the hour-old session. George Russell was a surprise name, who had a brilliant session in FP3. Follow Bahrain Grand Prix 2022 and Formula 1 Updates on InsideSport.IN
A fast start to Saturday 💪 Max ends FP3 in P1 with a 1:32.544 and Checo is P3 with a 1:32.791 🏁 #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/p8y8okc7Gt
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 19, 2022
Max Verstappen with a lap time of 1:32:544 was the fastest in the session, followed closely by Charles Leclerc who was nine thousand of a second slower while Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was the third fastest on Saturday. Red Bull will be quite happy with their performance ahead of the qualifying session.
Bahrain Grand Prix 2022: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes languishes at 6th place while Max Verstappen tops the pace charts in Free Practice 3
P4 and P6 in a good session for the boys. 👊 Who’s excited for Quali… 👀 pic.twitter.com/eOOkYN6ALz
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 19, 2022
Mercedes looked quite stable and was close to the race pace with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell setting the fastest times in the session. In the end, Russell came fourth while Hamilton achieved the sixth spot in FP3. Lewis Hamilton with a troubled Mercedes came eight thousand slower than Verstappen despite making an error in turn 4, forcing Verstappen to come out from the pits again to set the fastest time.
That’s it for practice in Sakhir 👊
Focus is now fully on #Quali later on 👀#essereFerrari 🔴 #BahrainGP #FP3 pic.twitter.com/OPqMX60FHB
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 19, 2022
Ferrari, the most composed team since the beginning of the pre-season testing didn’t fair badly. Charles Leclerc came second while Carlos Sainz was the fifth-fastest among the 20 drivers. Charles had a spin-off in the session where he landed his car in the gravel path. Fortunately, not much damage was reported.
Bahrain Grand Prix 2022: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes languishes at 6th place while Max Verstappen tops the pace charts in Free Practice 3
Who impressed you the most in the final practice session? 🤔
All 👀 turn to qualifying!#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g9XAzmR1Rx
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2022
It was a sorry state of affairs for Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri who failed to register time in this session. Before driving out from the pits he experienced some problem with his wheel and complained of ‘smelling oil’, thereby hindering his final practice session on Saturday.
With the 10 teams all set and ready to head to the final day, the biggest challenge would be to perform well in the qualifying session. With track temperatures dropping in the evening it can be expected that the qualifying pace of the cars would quite easily reach the high 1:29:000s.
Bahrain Grand Prix 2022: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes languishes at 6th place while Max Verstappen tops the pace charts in Free Practice 3
