Bahrain - EL3: Alonso still in the lead for the last session

Fernando Alonso is unstoppable! The Spaniard dominated the last session before qualifying, still ahead of Verstappen and Pérez.

Published on 04/03/2023 à 13:34

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Bahrain – EL3: Alonso still in the lead for the last session

Alonso is unstoppable! ©DPPI

The 2023 class completed the first three Free Practice sessions of the season, the last of which was (again) dominated by a brilliant Fernando Alonso. In his duel with Max Verstappen, the Spaniard signs a 1'32”340 on soft tires, with the Dutchman following in his footsteps (+0”005). Sergio Pérez (+0”106) is positioned in 3rd place, a repeat of the Friday evening session.

Both Red Bull started their session on hard tires on an overheated track, before switching to qualifying mode at the end of the session. If the RB19 does not yet seem perfectly suited to the reigning world champion, the Austrian team appears to be the most serious competitor to an unleashed Alonso and an AMR23 as comfortable in fast laps as in race pace. .

Mercedes comes out of the black hole, Alpine always mysterious

Behind, the two Mercedes give each other some air. Lewis Hamilton, who dominated the timesheet for a moment, grabbed a fourth position (+0″215) after a very nice quick second lap. His teammate George Russell is not far away (6th, +0″391), a reassuring sign from the Brackley garage (United Kingdom) after a mixed Friday. Interposes the Ferrari de Charles Leclerc (5th, +0″284), in a still discreet session for the Reds. We are particularly concerned about the deterioration of the tires, with the two drivers suffering a lot in the third sector.

More in difficulty compared to the Monegasque, Carlos Sainz (8th, +0”605) fails to surpass the time of Lance stroll (7th, +0”579). The Canadian, well below his teammate, however showed less weakness in his damaged right hand.

The battle of the rookies is won again by Oscar piastri, in McLaren with a performance that was ultimately less alarming than during the pre-season tests. He takes 9th position (+0″705), ahead of Pierre Gasly. And, on the side of the garageAlpine, looks are still perplexed. When the newcomer to the team complained of understeer, Esteban Ocon saw her car nailed to the garage. Around, the engineers seemed to be busy modifying the settings of his pink A523... Like yesterday, the Norman finished in 11 place (+0″776). The French team will have no choice but to show its true potential in qualifying, from 16 p.m. (French time).

The correct form of Haas in the second session on Friday was not confirmed this morning, with both drivers not going under a second in Alonso's time. Kevin Magnussen (14th, +1″041) is in front Nico Hulkenberg (+1″083).