The lap times tumbled on the final day of testing, while some drivers completed nearly three full race distances. Here are the stories and statistics from the final day of pre-season testing!
The final day of track action before the 2021 F1 season saw plenty of drivers getting laps in early in the day. Over 300 laps were run in the first two hours of the morning, while 1,455 laps were completed in total on Sunday at Bahrain International Circuit – 215 more than yesterday. Kimi Raikkonen and George Russell, who each spent the entire day in their cars, completed close to three full race distances.
There were no red flags during today’s running, aside from the scheduled red flag test five minutes before the end of the morning session. After completing 56 laps in the afternoon, Sebastian Vettel spent the rest of the session in the garage. A loss of boost pressure meant that Aston Martin called an early end to their testing schedule. His was the only major lack of running on Sunday. Testing came to a close with an incident between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkkonen, with Sainz almost driving into the side of Raikkonen.
Sergio Perez set the fastest lap in the morning, while the drivers whittled down the top time further in the afternoon session. Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen and Yuki Tsunoda all taking turns in first position. Verstappen ended up setting the fastest lap from the three days of testing with a 1:28.960. His lap time would have placed him fifth on the grid for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
BEST LAP TIMES
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Tyre |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:28.960 | C4 |
2 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:29.053 | C5 |
3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:29.611 | C4 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1:29.766 | C5 |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.025 | C5 |
6 | George Russell | Williams | 1:30.117 | C5 |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:30.144 | C4 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:30.187 | C4 |
9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:30.318 | C4 |
10 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.486 | C3 |
11 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:30.661 | C3 |
12 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:30.828 | C4 |
13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:31.310 | C3 |
14 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 1:31.531 | C4 |
15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1:32.053 | C3 |
16 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:32.406 | C2 |
17 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:35.041 | C3 |
18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:36.100 | C3 |
DAY 3 LAPS COMPLETE
Laps | Driver |
---|---|
166 | Kimi Raikkonen |
158 | George Russell |
91 | Yuki Tsunoda |
86 | Valtteri Bottas |
80 | Lance Stroll |
80 | Charles Leclerc |
79 | Carlos Sainz |
78 | Fernando Alonso |
78 | Mick Schumacher |
76 | Daniel Ricciardo |
76 | Pierre Gasly |
67 | Nikita Mazepin |
64 | Max Verstappen |
61 | Esteban Ocon |
56 | Lando Norris |
56 | Sebastian Vettel |
54 | Lewis Hamilton |
49 | Sergio Perez |
Laps | Team |
---|---|
167 | AlphaTauri |
166 | Alfa Romeo |
159 | Ferrari |
158 | Williams |
145 | Haas |
140 | Mercedes |
139 | Alpine |
136 | Aston Martin |
132 | McLaren |
113 | Red Bull |
Find more statistics from all three days of pre-season testing here.
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