Leclerc set the pace at Bahrain International Circuit in the last of three days of testing, beating Russell and Zhou Guanyu of Sauber.
Once again, testing was disrupted by a broken drain cover running for a second day in a row during the morning session.
2024 Bahrain F1 test, Day 3 results:
What happened in Bahrain F1 testing, Day 3?
Leclerc lapped in 1m30.322s on the C4 tyre, which won’t be in use during next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, to set the fastest time of the day.
Russell also bolted on the C4s for his final run of the test and lapped 0.046s shy of Leclerc’s time. Zhou did likewise and got to within three tenths of a second of their pace.
Leclerc’s fastest time was 0.433s faster than Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen, who topped the opening day of running, who set his best time of 1m30.755s for fourth on the C3 compound that will be the season-opening event’s soft tyre.
Yuki Tsunoda was fifth in Red Bull’s junior team, RB, also running C4s, ahead of Alex Albon (Williams), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
Carlos Sainz’s 1m29.921s, set using the C4 tyre during yesterday’s running, remained the fastest time of the week. He was ninth quickest today, having only run in the morning.
What happened in Bahrain F1 testing’s Day 3 morning session?
The final day of testing was halted after only 27 minutes when a drain cover came loose on the outside kerb approaching Turn 11 – the same spot where another drain was dislodged and disrupted running on Thursday.
It appeared Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ran over the loose drain but avoided major car damage, and the session was stopped for 1h17m in total for repairs and checks across the rest of the track.
Sainz set the pace with a time of 1m31.247s, 0.236s ahead of Perez with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) a further half a second in arrears.
McLaren was limited to just 20 laps with Lando Norris due to a suspected clutch problem, while Valtteri Bottas was restricted to 28 laps for Sauber as the team worked on the floor and rear end of the car.
2024 Bahrain F1 test, Day 3 morning session results:
Pos
Driver
Team
Time
Gap
Laps
Tyres
1
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
1:31.247
61
C3
2
Sergio Perez
Red Bull Racing
1:31.483
+0.236s
43
C3
3
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:31.999
+0.752s
48
C5
4
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:32.038
+0.791s
46
C3
5
Lando Norris
Mclaren
1:32.108
+0.861s
20
C3
6
Alexander Albon
Williams
1:32.583
+1.336s
32
C3
7
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:33.053
+1.806s
78
C3
8
Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1:33.079
+1.832s
55
C3
9
Valtteri Bottas
Sauber
1:33.528
+2.281s
28
C3
10
Daniel Ricciardo
RB
1:37.015
+5.768s
70
C1
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