Charles Leclerc had the edge on the final morning of running in the F1 pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Unlike on the second day, there were no headline times after the opening two hours as the 10 teams kept the pace of their cars under wraps. Ferrari driver Leclerc led the way with a lap of 1:30.811s, albeit 1.5s adrift of former team-mate Carlos Sainz's leading lap from Thursday in his Williams. The Monégasque was just 0.077s clear of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, and 0.132s ahead of Lando Norris in his McLaren. Despite the possibility of testing a new front wing that had been spotted at the start of the session, Max Verstappen's opening forays in Red Bull's RB21 continued with the wing from the opening two days. The four-time F1 champion was fifth quickest after the two-hour mark, 0.631s adrift of Leclerc, and with a modest total of just 19 laps under his belt. Alpine's Jack Doohan was fourth, 0.428s down. Of the additional five drivers on track, Williams' Alex Albon was ahead of two further rookies in Racing Bull's Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto in his Stake, the latter duo both around a second down. They were followed by Oliver Bearman, who endured a troubled morning following the delamination of the engine cover on the left-hand side of his Haas on his eighth lap, leaving a gaping hole as he trundled back to the pits. It is the second issue with that part of the car in a matter of days after team-mate Esteban Ocon suffered a similar failure, albeit to a lesser extent, during a shakedown at Silverstone. Following repairs, Bearman later returned to the track. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, clearly on heavy-fuel experimentation, brought up the rear, 2.858s adrift.
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