Kimi Antonelli went quickest in the final part of free practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. In contrast to their recent dominance, Mercedes was on the back foot for much of free practice, having struggled with tyre wear in particular. Antonelli suffered a turn four lockup in FP1 and ran wide at turn 14 in FP2. Even so, his best effort in FP3 was enough to pip Max Verstappen by over two tenths of a second.
Verstappen was a model of consistency throughout. The four-time world champion topped FP1 and finished second in FP2 despite not focusing on qualifying pace. Having secured six podiums from the last eight races, Verstappen is on the march and has publicly voiced his desire to win at least one race before the end of the season. Isack Hadjar emphasised the RB22’s pace in third; the Red Bull driver will incur a five-place grid drop this weekend after exceeding his quota of power units.
Fresh from his emphatic win last time out in Baku, George Russell reported significant tyre degradation on Friday. The eight-time race winner ran wide at turn four in FP1 but avoided any major incidents en route to P4 in FP3. Having cut the championship deficit to a still daunting 66 points, Russell will be keen to secure another strong result this weekend.
Ferrari took fifth and sixth in qualifying, Charles Leclerc two hundredths clear of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, while McLaren had a quiet time in free practice. Lando Norris ended FP3 seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri. Franco Colapinto finished ninth in FP3, ahead of RB rookie Arvid Lindblad. Colapinto will also face a five-place grid drop as a result of the multi-car collision he triggered at the previous race in Baku.
Gabriel Bortoleto got very racy with Esteban Ocon and was impeded by Hamilton in FP2. Even so, the Audi driver survived to set the 11th-fastest time in FP3 ahead of Fernando Alonso, who recently confirmed his continued presence on the grid until at least the end of 2027. Pierre Gasly ended the session 13th ahead of Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll. Alex Albon took 20th ahead of the two Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
By all accounts, Red Bull has continued its commendable progress. The two title protagonists are likely to be at the sharp end, but if free practice is anything to go by, both Verstappen and Hadjar are going to be ones to watch.
