Charles Leclerc's benchmark time from the morning of the final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing remains fastest mid-way through the evening session. A 1:31.024s effort on C4 tyres sent the Ferrari driver P1 before he handed driving duties over to teammate Carlos Sainz for the final stint. After a series of data logging laps, Sainz switched to performance runs, shaving time off each attempt before a final effort came in at 1:31.036s - just 0.012s behind Leclerc.
The likes of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris all hit the track for the final half-day of testing with all three encountering problems. Alonso did not emerge from the pits for well over half-an-hour with the car subsequently returning to the pits and being placed on the jacks. Fortunately for Aston Martin, the two-time World Champion clocked up 20 laps and went P4 on the C4 tyres, placing within half-a-second of Leclerc's benchmark. Hamilton's problems were down to car balance and a lack of rear grip as the W14 looked a handful on his 39 tours of Bahrain - posting a best effort of 1:31.960s, nearly down on Leclerc for sixth place - just behind Sergio Perez in the Red Bull. As for Norris, he lost chunks of time and was limited to just 13 laps as the wheel brow issues that have hampered McLaren throughout the test continued.
Bottas back out on track
Of the other drivers in for the afternoon, Alex Albon (doing the full day) smashed through the 100 lap mark as Williams continued to impress in making laps. Valtteri Bottas was able to get back out on track after a mechanical issue stopped him in the morning session, but the Finn has yet to focus on performance runs as he too hit three figures on the lap count. Nyck de Vries will end the final day of testing slowest as he handed over to Yuki Tsunoda for the final session, the Japanese racer going 12th fastest.
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