Bahrain pre-season F1 test: Day 3 driver line-up

The third day of pre-season testing in Bahrain is upon us, and with it comes the final opportunity for teams to fine-tune and improve their challengers ahead of next week's round of racing at Sakhir.

Red Bull is seemingly cruising ahead of its rivals, with Max Verstappen already the grand favourite to take the checkered flag come race day next weekend.

The Dutchman won't be in action on Saturday however, as Sergio Perez will have the day to himself as Red Bull's sole runner.

The same will apply for Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo and for Alex Albon at Williams.

Elsewhere, Aston Martin is still awaiting news on Lance Stroll's rate of recovery after his cycling accident last weekend. In the interim, Team Silverstone has assigned reserve driver Felipe Drugovich to the morning segment of the session while Fernando Alonso will handle the final afternoon stint.

Mercedes will be focused on reassuring itself over the reliability of its W14 black arrow following the hydraulics failure suffered by George Russell late on Friday.

Overall, it should be an interesting and exciting final hour on Saturday evening, as teams and drivers duke it out for bragging rights over the title of fastest competitor of pre-season testing.

Once again, he track will go green at 7:00 GMT (8:00 CET) for four hours of action, followed by a one hour lunch break and four and a half more hours of additional running between 12:00 GMT (13:00 CET)  and 16:30 GMT (17h30 CET).

Provisional Day 2 driver line-ups for Bahrain F1 pre-season test:

Friday February 24
Red Bull
AM Sergio Perez PM Sergio Perez
Ferrari
AM Charles Leclerc PM Carlos Sainz
Mercedes
AM George Russell PM Lewis Hamilton
Alpine
AM Pierre Gasly PM Esteban Ocon
McLaren
AM Lando Norris PM Oscar Piastri
Alfa Romeo F1
AM Valtteri Bottas PM Valtteri Bottas
Aston Martin F1
AM Felipe Drugovich PM Fernando Alonso
Haas
AM Nico Hulkenberg PM Kevin Magnussen
AlphaTauri
AM Nyck de Vries PM Yuki Tsunoda
Williams
AM Alex Albon PM Alex Albon

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Michael Delaney

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