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

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Williams explain power trick that could define F1 in 2026

Formula 1’s next generation of cars will not just look different – they will sound…

4 hours ago

Williams FW48 finally hits the track at Silverstone after delay

Williams finally rolled its long-awaited FW48 onto the track at Silverstone on Wednesday, trading weeks…

5 hours ago

Horner weighs in on explosive 2026 F1 engine controversy

Christian Horner has waded into Formula 1’s latest technical storm, addressing the growing controversy over…

6 hours ago

Newey: AI has been shaping F1 ‘for a long time’

Aston Martin’s chief architect and team principal Adrian Newey believes Formula 1’s latest buzzword is…

7 hours ago

Norris gets a pole-position welcome at old primary school

Fresh from pre-season testing and with a world title now stitched onto his racing overalls,…

9 hours ago

Two on the trot for Laffite and Ligier in Brazil

On this day in 1979, Jacques Laffite won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos as…

10 hours ago