Third Free Practice Results 2023 Bahrain F1 GP

F1 Race Event: Bahrain Grand Prix
Race Track: Bahrain International Circuit

Max Verstappen driving the Red Bull RB19 during practice for the 2023 Bahrain F1 GP

Weather: dry  28.3°C
Tarmac: dry  40.7°C
Humidity : 17.0%
Wind : 17 km/h NW
Pressure: 1017 bar

The Bahrain Grand Prix is in full swing, and the third free practice session is underway. The drivers are getting ready to put their skills to the test and fine-tune their cars before the big race.

At the start of the session, things were quiet on the track. It took almost five minutes before the first lap time was clocked by Lando Norris in the McLaren. He set a time of 1:34.633 on a set of Soft compound tires.

As the session progressed, Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W14 topped the timesheet with a time of 1:33.508 min, just a little faster than both Ferrari drivers. Carlos Sainz was only +0.015s behind Hamilton, while Leclerc was not far behind on P3, 0.066s slower. Only seven drivers had clocked a timed lap, with Fernando Alonso and both Red Bull drivers still in the pits.

After 25 minutes, Alonso set his first lap time in the Aston Martin and went almost 0.4s faster than Hamilton, raising the quickest lap time to 1:33.121 min. Just as he finished his lap, Verstappen and Pérez came out on hard tires to put in their first laps. Verstappen was only 0.583s slower on a set of Hard tires, which was impressive. Pérez was 0.928s behind the quickest time of Alonso.

Halfway through the session, the top 10 order in terms of quickest lap times was: 1. Alonso, 1:33.121 (S), 2. Hamilton +0.374s (S), 3. Sainz +0.402s (S), 4. Leclerc +0.446s (S), 5. Verstappen +0.583s (H), 6. Ocon +0.691s (S), 7. Bottas +0.752s (S) 8. Gasly +0.807s 9. Albon +0.885s, 10. Pérez +0.928s (H).

Zhou Guanyu (CHN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team C43 Bahrain Grand Prix 2023. Sakhir, Bahrain.

With 15 minutes left in the session, the other Aston Martin showed its speed and clocked the second-quickest lap time, only 0.202s slower than his teammate Alonso, who was still on P1. Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu also moved up to P3 with the Alfa Romeo on soft tires and went even quicker than Hamilton, who was on P4.

As the track became a lot quicker, both Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Russell, did a push lap and moved up to P1 and P2, being half a second faster than Alonso.

Finally, after both Mercedes drivers had finished their lap, current World Champion Verstappen did his first lap on a set of Softs. The Dutch driver was quickest for a few seconds with a time of 1:32.345 min, but Verstappen's time got beaten right away by Alonso by only 0.005s.

Last year's fastest lap time in Bahrain's FP3 was 1:32.544 min, clocked by Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB18. This year's times are getting closer, and it will be interesting to see how the qualifying round shapes up.

FP3 Times Table 2023 Bahrain GP

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