Sainz remains fastest at four-hour mark

Carlos Sainz remained at the top of the timesheets following hours three and four of the final day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, although his advantage has been reduced.

The Spaniard's time prior to the earlier red flag of 1m 31.247s remains the benchmark, with Sergio Perez still sitting in second but now just 0.236s behind the Ferrari driver.

However, whilst Sainz's best lap was completed on the C4's, Perez's best laps was done on the C3 compound. Lewis Hamilton ended the fourth hour just under eight-tenths of a second behind in P3, but he used the C5's.

When the session finally got back underway just ahead of the conclusion of the second hour, all 10 cars quickly got out onto the circuit. The third-hour saw several personal improvements, before attention quickly turned to long runs.

There was trouble for McLaren as Lando Norris' final hour of running was brought to a premature end, ahead of passing the baton to Oscar Piastri. Norris sat in the pits for the bulk of the fourth hour, as the Woking-based team investigated a potential clutch issue.

Stake F1 also had issues in the fourth hour, with Bottas having returned to the pits before the screens quickly went up. The Finn sat in ninth on the timesheets when he was wheeled back into the garage.

Stroll once again looked strong as he elevated Aston Martin into fourth on the C3 compound, ahead of Norris in fifth.