Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz had actually led the last early morning session from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez before running was disrupted by a damaged drain cover for the 2nd day in a row. Since repair work stopped the test for 1h17, the choice was required to cancel the prepared one-hour lunch break and continue all the method to the chequered flag at 7pm regional time. There was early problem for McLaren, which contributed to its screening gremlins today with an evident clutch concern for Lando Norris. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas likewise ran a limited program while his group dealt with the flooring and rear end of his green and black vehicle. In the afternoon, Max Verstappen took over from Perez in the RB20, while Leclerc changed Sainz in the scarlet Ferrari. Leclerc quickly went 3rd fastest behind Sainz and Perez till Verstappen put down a 1m31.058 s, followed by a 1m30.763 s on utilized C3 tires 25 minutes later on. Leclerc responded with a 1m30.409 s, however utilized the C4 substance which is a substantial action softer and will not be utilized at next week’s Bahrain Grand Prix at the exact same Sakhir circuit. With 2 hours delegated run the Monegasque motorist handled another set of the red side-walled tire to clock a 1m30.322 s, going 4 tenths clear of the world champ. Heading towards the last hour most heavy players changed their focus to longer operate on the hardest tires. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda utilized C4s to rise up to 3rd in the last hour, half a 2nd shy of Leclerc. He was quickly watched by George Russell, who was 4th 0.040 s behind on the more difficult C3 tire, while Alex Albon raised himself to 5th with a late C4 lap. Albon was the only motorist to remain in the cars and truck throughout the day, finishing 121 laps aboard the Williams FW46. Bolting on the C4s himself, Russell then assaulted Leclerc’s table-topping time however a purple 3rd sector wasn’t enough to remove the Ferrari as the Briton ended up second, 0.046 s behind. Sauber motorist Zhou Guanyu followed Russell through in 3rd with a 1m30.647 s, which benched Verstappen to 4th. Behind Tsunoda and Albon, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had actually gone up right before sundown to end the test seventh and 8th respectively. Sainz’s early morning time held up for ninth ahead of Perez and Haas male Nico Hulkenberg. Lewis Hamilton rounded off his winter season test in 12th after running 49 laps in the early morning. He was followed by early morning runners Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Norris. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished a subtle test for Alpine in 15th and 17th respectively, divided by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. After his minimal early morning running Bottas was 18th, with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo the slowest of the 19 active motorists on Friday. The 2024 season begins in earnest on Thursday with very first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which this year will be hung on a Saturday. Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps Tyres 1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.322 74 C4 2 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.368 +0.046 s 67 C4 3 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:30.647 +0.325 s 85 C4 4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:30.755 +0.433 s 66 C3 5 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:30.775 +0.453 s 53 C4 6 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.984 +0.662 s 121 C4 7 Oscar Piastri Mclaren 1:31.030 +0.708 s 91 C3 8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.159 +0.837 s 75 C3 9 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:31.247 +0.925 s 71 C3 10 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:31.483 +1.161 s 53 C3 11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:31.686 +1.364 s 89 C3 12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.999 +1.677 s 49 C5 13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:32.038 +1.716 s 46 C3 14 Lando Norris Mclaren 1:32.108 +1.786 s 20 C3 15 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.149 +1.827 s 47 C3 16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:33.053 +2.731 s 80 C3 17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:33.079 +2.757 s 55 C3 18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:33.528 +3.206 s 28 C3 19 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:37.015 +6.693 s 70 C1
2024 Bahrain F1 test: Leclerc fastest from Russell on last day
