Question marks surround Mercedes as Red Bull go quickest - Day 3 F1 testing report
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Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain has concluded with Red Bull Racing looking like the strongest. The team seems to have solved any unbalancing issues with the rear-end. Meanwhile, there are serious questions surrounding Mercedes as the W12 looks twitchy in the corners. Max Verstappen topped the timesheets with a 1:28.960.
As usual in testing, the fuel loads and engine modes are unknown making it difficult to make direct comparisons. However, the Mercedes car doesn't look easy to drive with both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton sliding and running wide on the circuit.
Yuki Tsunoda also impressed in the final afternoon session. The rookie driver was given plenty of qualifying runs and found himself battling for the fastest time. McLaren didn't trouble the top of the timesheets on Sunday nor did they produce the most laps but the body language suggests Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo are sitting comfortably.
Alpine, Williams and Alfa Romeo all look to have made gains over the winter period.
Aston Martin and Sebastian Vettel will be left with some headaches. Vettel lost more time during the final day of testing with another issue on the Aston Martin car. Neither he nor Stroll produced fast laps.
Where are Mercedes?
In the afternoon session, Hamilton looked twitchy in the Mercedes. The rear-end wasn't as stable as it normally is and the British driver was often seen running wide or sliding in the corners. The World Champions have the time to improve over the next two weeks, but questions are rightly being asked.
Meanwhile, their main rivals for the title, Red Bull Racing look as if they've improved the car over the winter. The rear-end sticks in the corners far better than it did during the 2020 F1 season.
Hamilton put on the C5 tyre in the final 30 minutes of the session. Hamilton prepared the tyres but spun on the final corner meaning he was unable to run the first hot lap.
Plenty of laps
The teams and drivers had one last chance to get out on the track before the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend at the end of the month. Most teams took this chance with both hands, by lunchtime Kimi Raikkonen had already recorded 91 laps. Another three drivers, including Valtteri Bottas, had also recorded at least 80 laps.
Raikkonen carried on during the afternoon. In the end, he recorded over 160 laps.
Across the three test days, only Charles Leclerc's Ferrari car stopped out on the circuit with an issue. Hamilton bought out the red flag when he got stuck in the gravel trap, and Sergio Perez's engine cover ripped off when he followed the Williams car.