Bahrain testing: Verstappen has the last word ahead of Tsunoda

Duel of protégés Red Bull. Max Verstappen et Yuki tsunoda exchanged the lead on the timesheet during the final pre-season testing session in Bahrain. The Red Bull driver wearing C4 tires finally had the last word by setting a time of 1'28"960, faster than that of free practice 1 of the Bahrain GP last November.

The Dutchman is ahead of Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) and its softer tires (C5) of 93 thousandths. Behind, the others are further away. Carlos Sainz, who experienced small problems in the middle of the session, completes the trio head with his Ferrari at 651 thousandths in C4. Old veteran Kimi Raikkonen had decided to play with the youngsters. He places his Alfa Romeo in fourth place at 806 thousandths and at the same time achieves the greatest number of laps, 166.

And the Mercedes ? They arrive ! Sometimes behind this weekend, Lewis Hamilton concludes testing in fifth position one second behind Verstappen. He could have aimed better without small errors during his qualifying rounds.

The Briton is ahead of a solid George Russell on his first day of driving, where he completed 158 laps. Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo held the lead for a long time before the other drivers did qualifying simulations. No reason to worry about him. Same speech for Fernando Alonso, 9th in the end, who chained the laps.

On the other hand, some may grimace. Haas F1 Team already, who could not do better than the 14th and 15th times today, more than two seconds behind the leaders. But we expected it.

The most disappointed must be the two drivers Aston Martin, because the car seems really worrying. Over the three days, we hardly saw her. This Sunday, Stroll et Hag are in the last two places in the standings without a fast lap and had to end their session before the end of regulation time. The big lack of running risks being detrimental for the start of the season.

Even if overall, we will have to wait for the verdict of the qualifications to get a real idea. Only two weeks left before the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.

Waiting, find the F1 2021 Guide and the analyzes of AUTOhebdo reporters on these essays in the next magazine, starting tomorrow in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.

Rankings for the session: