Russell pips Verstappen to end F1 testing on top

George Russell finished the final day of F1 pre-season testing atop the timing sheets after setting a lap time of 1:29.545 in his Mercedes.

That was +0.021 clear of Max Verstappen in second place, with Williams driver Alex Albon rounding out the top three.

Pierre Gasly impressed during the last session across the three days at the Bahrain International Circuit, trading quickest times with Russell over the first two hours of the afternoon's running.

There was a third red flag under strange circumstances, following on from the power outage on day one and the broken pane of glass on the pit straight on the final morning.

The interruption occurred when a bus was spotted driving along the outer part of the run-off area at Turn 10, the exact spot Logan Sargeant spun at high speed last year.

As lap times continued to tumble as darkness fell, Verstappen moved to the top of the timing board, with Albon just behind in the Williams, which continued to raise eyebrows after Carlos Sainz went quickest on day two - and overall for the test.

The Thai driver was, however, on the softer C4 compound of tyres, with the Red Bull on the harder C3 Pirellis.

Both spent the entire day at the helm of their respective teams, with Albon racking up a day-leading 137 laps.

Verstappen, on the other hand, lost a lot of running in the early part of the afternoon session with an engine oil system leak. Therefore, he only managed 81.

Like his team-mate 24 hours prior, Oscar Piastri showcased the strong long-run pace of the McLaren MCL39, before strapping on his own set of C3 tyres to jump ahead of Gasly and into third.

Verstappen and Esteban Ocon both spun at Turn 1 as the clock ticked down over the final 30 minutes, but the biggest point of note during the final two hours was Lance Stroll being replaced at the wheel of his Aston Martin by Fernando Alonso.

The Canadian driver was due to run in the morning session, but fell unwell overnight. Alonso took his place, before handing the AMR25 over at lunch time. Although, Stroll proved too ill and could not compete the session.

Alonso is believed to have also been unwell, but fared better than his team-mate.

Having all completed running in the morning, or in Lawson's case yesterday, none of the six rookies ran in the final session.