68 laps and heavy fuel runs for Carlos Sainz in his final Bahrain testing session. 68 laps and heavy fuel runs for Carlos.

Sergio Perez set the fastest time of the morning session on the final day of 2022 Formula One pre-season testing in Sakhir after Red Bull Racing took to the track with a new-look car in Bahrain. The Red Bull was conspicuous by its absence for the opening 45 minutes of the session with drilling sounds coming from behind screens as the mechanics worked on updates in the garage to add the new sidepod design.

When the RB18 emerged with a more sculpted look to its sidepods, Sergio Perez almost immediately sent it to the top of the standings, before later setting the fastest time of the week so far with a 1:33.105.

Most of the teams managed to complete very healthy lap totals as they seemed to largely focus on heavier fuel runs, with Lewis Hamilton turning in 78 laps for Mercedes and Carlos Sainz 68 for Scuderia Ferrari.

Ferrari seemed to have reduce the porpoising effect as a result of the new floor introduced yesterday and Carlos Sainz experienced less bouncing on the straights in the morning session of the final testint day. At the same time, the Ferrari F1-75 was the only car that did not seem to suffer suffer from understeer during the heavy fuel runs. Carlos Sainz set a best personal lap time of 1.34.905 in his final Bahrain testing session, as teammate Charles Leclerc will take to the track behind the wheel of the F1-75 car in the afternoon session of the last day of pre-season testing ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 championship.

The morning session ended in slightly bizarre circumstances, with four cars gathering on the start line for a test standing start.

Session One final timesheet