Andrea Kimi Antonelli put Mercedes on top for the first time this weekend in the final practice session at the Sepang International Circuit.
The championship leader was well over half a second faster than his team mate and closest championship rival George Russell, who finished his quickest lap moments after Antonelli. The pair are both running Mercedes’ extensive new upgrade package this weekend.
The Red Bull drivers inserted themselves into the wide gap between the two Mercedes. Max Verstappen lapped almost three-tenths of a second slower than Antonelli, losing time across the three sectors.
There was little to separate the Ferrari drivers, both lapping seven-tenths of a second slower than Antonelli. All drivers faced the challenge of eking a single good lap out of the soft rubber on the extremely abrasive track surface which is even starting to come apart in place, cars pulling stones off its surface. “It felt like a pretty decent lap considering the tyres were not great,” reported Lewis Hamilton after lapping fractionally slower than Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well off the pace. Lando Norris was unable to improve his time on the soft rubber and set his quickest lap on the medium rubber.
Two drivers who carry grid penalties into the race completed the top 10. Franco Colapinto was ninth fastest, a tenth of a second ahead of Arvid Lindblad. Fernando Alonso gave some encouragement to Aston Martin by setting the 12th-quickest time. Cadillac, who have regularly seen both their drivers drop out in Q3 this year, were almost a second off the next-slowest car.
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2026 Bahrain Grand Prix third practice result
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