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

Not a one-off: Hill sees multiple world titles for Norris

Damon Hill knows a thing or two about what it takes to climb Formula 1’s…

47 mins ago

Domenicali calls for calm and a plan as Ferrari eyes 2026 reset

Formula 1’s most polished powerbroker has seen this movie before – and Stefano Domenicali is…

2 hours ago

Verstappen puts Bathurst 1000 Supercar event on bucket list

Max Verstappen’s racing curiosity has never been confined to Formula 1 – and now, one…

4 hours ago

Vowles warns 2026 weight limit will catch F1 teams out

When F1’s radically redesigned 2026 cars finally roll out in Barcelona at the end of…

18 hours ago

Why Verstappen isn’t expecting much running at F1’s first test

Max Verstappen has never been one to sugar-coat reality – and as Formula 1 braces…

20 hours ago

Revolut’s CMO slams Ferrari: ‘How can you put blue on a red car?’

Ferrari have survived decades of criticism about strategy calls, driver politics and pit stops that…

21 hours ago