Formula 1 fires up its engines for the last testing session before heading to Australia for the season-opening Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit. These four crucial hours will allow teams to finalize their work programs and arrive in Melbourne with a deeper understanding of their cars. Conditions are notably different from previous days, with a hotter track and stronger winds altering plans. Stay with us as we bring you live updates from Bahrain’s afternoon session on Day 3.
Weather has played a key role on the third day of testing, with heat and wind reshuffling team strategies. The morning session saw strong gusts impacting the performance of the cars, while track temperatures climbed to around 30 degrees Celsius—significantly higher than on the first two days.
The morning ended with Ferrari focusing on race pace, pushing the setup of the new SF-25 to its limits. Over the course of nearly 20 hours of testing, the car has evolved significantly, showing signs of oversteer, understeer, and neutral balance. These changes have been achieved by adjusting suspension settings, fuel loads, and ballast distribution—an often-overlooked factor in recent days, particularly when it comes to “sandbagging.”
Ferrari is chasing McLaren, whose MCL39 has immediately proven to be competitive, building on the success that secured the 2024 Constructors’ Championship. The car follows the evolutionary path of the MCL38, incorporating its best features. However, Woking’s morning session was far from smooth, as the MCL39 struggled with inconsistencies.
The minute-by-minute coverage of the afternoon session on the third day of testing at the Sakhir Circuit:
17:05 – Here is the final times classification.
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Checkered flag! The 2025 pre-season tests come to an end.
17:00 – Another 35.3 for Verstappen, who is ‘dueling’ on track with Russell.
16:59 – Interesting mini race simulation from Verstappen: 35.3-35.1-35.0-35.2 on C3 tires.
16:57 – Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has also spoken. Here are his comments.
16:55 – Verstappen, Alonso, and Albon are running a mini race pace simulation.
16:53 – Russell takes the lead! With 7 minutes to go, the leader changes: 1:29.545 for Mercedes’ #63.
16:51 – ‘Battle’ on track between Verstappen and Piastri, with the Dutchman overtaking the Australian’s McLaren.
16:48 – Final rush for almost all the protagonists of this afternoon session: on track in these last minutes are Albon, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Alonso, Gasly, and Piastri.
16:44 – The tests are ending, but there is much to discuss. Here are Charles Leclerc’s comments in the press conference after completing his driving session in the morning.
16:40 – Testing is over for Ferrari. Hamilton’s car is in the garage, covered by screens, with mechanics at work. The Englishman completed 47 laps today.
16:39 – Spin for Verstappen as well, again at Turn 1. He resumes without difficulty.
16:36 – Spin for Ocon at Turn 1. He resumes without consequences.
16:33 – Returning to the race simulations seen earlier, here is the lap sequence of Esteban Ocon’s third stint on C1 tires.
outlap
35.3
34.9
35.0
34.7
34.8
34.9
35.2
35.2
35.3
35.1
35.2
35.1
35.3
35.1
35.1
35.1
35.1
36.7
35.3
35.0
34.9
inlap
16:31 – Piastri jumps to third place: 1:29.940 on C3 tires. He is three-tenths behind Verstappen on the same compound in a single-lap run.
16:29 – Meanwhile, here is the lap sequence from Hamilton’s previous stint on C3 tires, a race simulation that was effectively interrupted after the first stint.
outlap
36.4
36.6
36.8
36.4
37.2
36.8
36.8
38.0
37.0
37.7
inlap
16:27 – Alonso has begun his second race simulation stint. Still on hard tires, he has so far completed three laps in 35.7-35.7-35.8.
15:47 – Hamilton pit stop. The second stint begins. Meanwhile, Russell sets a very slow lap in 39.4.
15:45 – Piastri 33.6, Hamilton 37.7. Russell is at the end of his second stint and sets 36.9. Ocon with his Haas, which we are monitoring for its good pace, is at 34.8.
15:44 – Hamilton rises to 38.0. Russell 36.9. Piastri 33.6. Piastri is closing in on Hamilton on track.
15:42 – Russell 37.5, he’s losing pace. Hamilton 36.8, Piastri 33.4. Great lap from Ocon, 34.9.
15:40 – Russell sets a slow 37.8 lap in traffic. Ocon has started his new stint and sets a 35.2. Hamilton slightly improves: 36.8.
15:39 – Piastri 33.9, Russell has settled at 36.7. Hamilton slower: 37.2.
15:38 – Hamilton’s pace isn’t great at the moment: his last two laps were 36.8 and 36.4, despite the full fuel load.
15:37 – Another fast lap from Albon with the C3: he’s 4th. Piastri is now on an attacking lap in his last stint.
15:36 – Verstappen, even faster! 1:29.799.
15:35 – Piastri pit stop. The third and final stint begins for the McLaren driver.
15:34 – Hamilton 36.6, Russell 36.7, Piastri 35.6. Ocon settles at 36.0. Again, they are all in different phases of the race simulation.
15:33 – Hamilton’s first reference time in the stint: 36.4.
15:32 – Russell’s pace is slowing down: he’s now at 36.7. Meanwhile, there’s a nice battle on track between Piastri and Ocon, with the Australian passing the French Haas driver in Turn 1.
15:23 – Piastri sets a 35.2, Russell a 36.2. Ocon is doing well: 35.6 on his 12th lap with the hard tire.
15:21 – Piastri 35.2, Russell 36.3 in their respective simulations. Remember, Russell is at the start of his first stint, while Piastri is nearing the middle to end of his second stint.
15:20 – Russell starts his race simulation with a 36.1.
15:18 – Another 35.2 for Piastri. Russell is back on track, let’s see if he starts a long run as well.
15:16 – Piastri sets a 35.1 and 35.2, completing 10 laps in his second stint. For reference, McLaren is six-tenths faster per lap than Haas. Stroll and Hulkenberg are slower.
15:13 – Another 35.0 for Piastri. Ocon and Stroll are also doing race simulations. Albon is now back on track.
15:11 – Piastri sets a 34.9, still extremely consistent.
15:08 – Verstappen takes the lead! An interesting qualifying simulation from the world champion. He’s the first today to go below 1:30 with a 1:29.844, two-tenths faster than Gasly in second.
15:07 – Piastri slightly rises to 35.0. Gasly is also doing a long-run simulation with the Alpine, which has been a big star today.
15:06 – Verstappen pushes again. Meanwhile, Piastri keeps going and drops to 34.9. Another great race simulation for McLaren.
15:01 – Piastri’s first stint has ended. He changes tires and switches to the C1. His first part of the “race” lasted 18 laps.
15:00 – Piastri remains very consistent: 36.3 and 36.9.
14:58 – Verstappen completes his lap and moves into P3 with a 1:30.143 on the C3, four-tenths faster than Hamilton.
14:56 – Albon returns to the pits, having completed his race simulation, finishing his second stint on the C1.
outlap
35.6
35.3
35.5
35.4
35.1
35.8
35.7
35.6
35.7
35.6
35.6
35.5
35.4
35.4
36.6
inlap
14:55 – Verstappen is back out on track now.
14:52 – Piastri sets a 36.2. Hamilton continues with the slow-fast lap sequence. He now sets a 30.7 with the C3.
14:50 – Hamilton laps again in the low 30s, then another slow ‘recovery’ lap.
14:48 – Piastri lowers his times again: 36.2 and 36.0 for the Australian in his first stint of race simulation.
14:45 – Piastri’s time has risen to 36.5. Hamilton, meanwhile, returns to the track.
14:40 – 35.9 and 36.1 for Piastri.
14:37 – 36.2 and 35.7 are Piastri’s last two laps. Meanwhile, we remind you that Albon is also continuing his race simulation, on the 13th lap of his second stint.
14:36 – Verstappen’s Red Bull returns to the garage. Ferrari mechanics are working on Hamilton’s car.
14:35 – Piastri pushes again and (perhaps) begins his race simulation: starts with a 36.5.
14:33 – The #1 does not improve, remaining 9th. His lap ends 1.1 seconds off Gasly’s time.
14:32 – Verstappen has returned and is now back on track with the C2 tires. He is improving in the first sector.
14:31 – Great lap by Russell in 1:30.2. He doesn’t improve by two-tenths, but sets a sector record in the third sector.
14:30 – Mechanics are working on Gasly’s Alpine. Verstappen is on an out-lap with the C3.
14:26 – Hamilton’s time is 1:31.0, not particularly fast.
14:24 – Albon is in his second stint with the C1, consistently lapping around 35.5.
14:22 – Hamilton returns to the track with the C3 tire. Let’s see if it’s an attempt at a qualifying simulation.
14:14 – Change at the top: Gasly overtakes Russell again. The Alpine is back in the lead with a time of 1:30.040.
14:11 – First sign of life from Verstappen: he’s on track, with the ninth-fastest time of 1:31.2. C2 tire for the #1.
14:10 – Qualification simulations continue: Ocon with the Haas returns to 7th and overtakes Piastri. However, the Frenchman used the C4 tire, while the Australian used the C2.
14:09 – Hamilton moves up to third place with the C3 tire: 1:30.601 for the #44. Two-tenths faster than Leclerc’s time from this morning.
14:07 – Piastri improves, moving up to P6 with the C2 tire: 1:31.069.
14:05 – Eight cars are on track at the moment, with only Gasly and, once again, Verstappen in the pits. Red Bull’s absence from the track is starting to be concerning.
14:00 – At the start of the first hour, Russell jumps to the top! 1:30.054.
13:58 – Russell chasing his time with the C3 tire: fastest in sector 1.
13:57 – As with this afternoon’s first hour, Stroll is doing few laps: only 8 completed. For comparison, Ocon has 21 laps and Gasly has completed 18.
13:55 – Gasly unstoppable: he lowers his time again and sets a 1:30.282.
13:53 – Notably, Verstappen has not yet been on track this afternoon. The Dutchman missed the entire first hour of the afternoon session.
13:51 – First reference time for Piastri, who with the C2 tire sets 11th with a time of 1:31.573.
13:49 – Ocon also improves, with the Haas in 6th place, seven-tenths off Gasly’s time.
13:47 – Great lap from Russell, moving up to P3, improving Antonelli’s morning time. The Englishman sets a time of 1:30.858.
13:45 – Hamilton improves, moving up to 7th with a time of 1:31.258.
13:43 – Hamilton with a drift-style slide in Turn 1. Not much to report at the moment in terms of lap times.
13:40 – Piastri, Hamilton, and Albon join Tsunoda on track.
13:38 – Quiet moment on track: only Tsunoda is currently on track.
13:34 – Ocon and Stroll are on track. Meanwhile, the new session leader, Pierre Gasly, returns to the pit lane.
13:26 – Gasly completes a great lap! He moves to the top with a time of 1:30.657.
13:24 – 1:31.8 for Hamilton, who continues to improve his best time lap after lap. Gasly is also improving now, with the C3 tire.
13:22 – Slight improvement for Hamilton, who sets a 1:32.3.
13:20 – Russell sets the eighth-fastest time: 1:31.5 with the C3 tire.
13:19 – Russell is also on track with the Mercedes W16.
13:16 – Hamilton’s first lap time is 1:32.5. Meanwhile, McLaren is working in the garage, with the garage ‘darkened.’
13:15 – Gasly improves, setting the sixth-fastest time with a 1:31.4. He’s about a tenth and a half behind Doohan’s morning time.
13:14 – Hamilton is on track with the C3 tire.
13:12 – Session resumed!
13:10 – An unusual situation. The session is interrupted because a minibus ended up inside the circuit.
13:08 – First reference lap times of the afternoon: Gasly 1:32.5, Ocon 1:32.8.
13:05 – Lance Stroll gets into the car and will regularly take to the track this afternoon. The Canadian was in doubt after feeling unwell in the morning.
13:03 – Ocon and Gasly, the two French drivers and former teammates, are the first to hit the track.
13:00 – Green flag! The final test session is now underway.
12:55 – No rain is expected this afternoon. Temperatures have risen slightly compared to yesterday: 18°C air temperature, 31°C track temperature.
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