F1 2021 Pre-Season Testing: Day 3 Statistics

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!

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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

Find more statistics from all three days of pre-season testing here.