©McLaren
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri blitzed the field in Saturday’s final practice with a searing 1m31.646s lap that outpaced teammate Lando Norris by 0.688s.
But the story of the session was the relentless heat that sapped grip and left drivers wrestling with their machines throughout the 60-minute dress rehearsal.
With qualifying set for cooler night-time conditions, the daytime session offered little predictive value, yet it showcased the challenges teams face in taming the abrasive Bahrain circuit.
From the outset, the sun-baked track proved unforgiving. Grip was at a premium, with drivers tiptoeing through corners as their tyres screamed in protest.
Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were the first to brave the furnace, followed cautiously by Ferrari and Alpine runners. Lewis Hamilton set an early benchmark of 1m34.846s for the Scuderia on used softs, but even that leisurely lap couldn’t mask the struggle.
Max Verstappen’s frustration crackled over the radio, branding the grip “terrible,” while George Russell, spinning his Mercedes, lamented feeling “the least amount of grip I’ve ever had in an F1 car.”
The heat was not just a physical challenge but a mental one, forcing drivers to recalibrate expectations for a track that felt alien compared to the cooler FP2.
As the session progressed, McLaren asserted dominance. Lando Norris, the championship leader, fired in a 1m33.796s after 20 minutes, a second clear of Hamilton’s earlier effort.
Piastri, unfazed by understeer, responded with a 1m33.324s to snatch the lead. The Australian’s pace only grew stronger, culminating in his session-topping 1m31.646s with 10 minutes remaining—a lap that left rivals scrambling.
Norris secured second, while Verstappen briefly interrupted the McLaren one-two before settling for a subdued eighth.
Charles Leclerc, hampered by a pit stop to replace a lost mirror, clawed his way to fourth, with Russell and Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top six.
The session wasn’t without hiccups. A virtual safety car was triggered when Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber ground to a halt at Turn 8, the German reporting a mysterious shutdown.
Meanwhile, drivers like Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly showed flashes of pace, with Gasly’s Alpine landing seventh and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar impressing in ninth.
Carlos Sainz and Hamilton completed the top 10, but the daytime conditions rendered much of the data academic.
With qualifying looming under floodlights, teams will pivot to cooler, grippier conditions. Piastri’s FP3 masterclass hints at McLaren’s potential, but the heat of Sakhir served a stark reminder: in Bahrain, adaptability is as crucial as outright pace.
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