Max Verstappen edged out Mercedes Lewis Hamilton by just a tenth of a second in the last free practice session before this evening's all-important qualifying stint.
Although it wasn't quite as hot as yesterday afternoon, Bahrain was still basking in scorching heat when FP3 got underway, but it wasn't a mad dash for drivers to rush out in the early stages.
As the session unfolded and teams gradually took to the track, Williams’ Felipe Massa went fastest with a 1:33.720, but this was soon beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen although the lap appeared to be ridden with errors.
The session was interrupted for short period after 35 minutes when Romain Grosjean spun his Haas on the exit of Turn 4. The French driver eventually succeeded however in limping back to the pits although he took no further part in the session.
When the session resumed, Sebastian Vettel vaulted his Ferrari to the top with the top four drivers covered at that point by just five hundreds of a second.
Hamilton set a competitive time only late in the session, ultimately placing himself P2 on the time sheet, using like his colleagues the supersoft compound tyre.
Vettel ended the session P3, narrowly beating Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa concluded his stint in sixth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
Free Practice 3 results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:32.194s | 8 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:32.304s | + 0.110s | 10 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:32.750s | + 0.556s | 10 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:32.754s | + 0.560s | 13 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:32.785s | + 0.591s | 9 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:32.801s | + 0.607s | 12 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:32.809s | + 0.615s | 8 |
| 8 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:32.933s | + 0.739s | 9 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:33.604s | + 1.410s | 18 |
| 10 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:33.744s | + 1.550s | 11 |
| 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:33.916s | + 1.722s | 14 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:33.922s | + 1.728s | 10 |
| 13 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:33.947s | + 1.753s | 15 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:33.965s | + 1.771s | 15 |
| 15 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:34.027s | + 1.833s | 15 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:34.064s | + 1.870s | 17 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:34.198s | + 2.004s | 13 |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:34.205s | + 2.011s | 14 |
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:34.268s | + 2.074s | 15 |
| 20 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:34.417s | + 2.223s | 11 |
