FP3: Leclerc tops Vettel as Ferrari maintain advantage

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuitbh

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel had no trouble at all to end up on top of the timesheet at the end of the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain GP.

Lewis Hamlilton was even further behind than on Friday, leaving nearly 8 tenths between himself and today's pace setting Monegasque. Valtteri Bottas ended 4th fastest, nearly matching his multiple championship team mate.

Haas's Romain Grosjean did even better than on Friday as well, ending up 5th fastest, 1.2s down on Leclerc. The Frenchman led a closely matched midfield, with Hulkenberg, Norris, Verstappen and Sainz less than a tenth behind. Only 10th placed Kvyat was 2 tenths seperated from the guy ahead of him.

Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest Alfa Romeo Racing driver in 11th, recovering from a troubled Friday where both Alfa drivers were sidelined for large parts of the session due to cooling problems on their cars.

Gasly and Magnussen, as were next up the pecking order, but even worse off were Ricciardo and Albon, who both were solidly outperformed by their respective team mates.

Both Williams again closed the pack in 19th and 20th, both more than a second behind to 18th.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrari1:29.569-15
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1:29.738+0.169s16
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:30.334+0.765s10
477Valtteri BottasMercedes1:30.389+0.820s12
58Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:30.818+1.249s14
627Nico HulkenbergRenault1:30.910+1.341s12
74Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:30.955+1.386s15
833Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda1:30.959+1.390s10
955Carlos SainzMcLaren Renault1:30.965+1.396s14
1026Daniil KvyatScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:31.173+1.604s17
117Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:31.333+1.764s21
1210Pierre GaslyRed Bull Racing Honda1:31.392+1.823s13
1320Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:31.540+1.971s13
1418Lance StrollRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:31.618+2.049s16
1511Sergio PerezRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:31.638+2.069s9
163Daniel RicciardoRenault1:31.643+2.074s11
1723Alexander AlbonScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:31.679+2.110s17
1899Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:32.132+2.563s21
1963George RussellWilliams Mercedes1:33.387+3.818s14
2088Robert KubicaWilliams Mercedes1:33.525+3.956s13