Verstappen on top in final free practice Bahrain

Published on 28 November 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished the third free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as fastest. The Dutchman did eleven laps at the 5412-meter-long Bahrain International Circuit and set a 1:28.355 as fastest time, leaving both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton (P2) and Valtteri Bottas (P3) at about three tenths behind. Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly completed the top six.

It is 14:00 local time when the lights go green for the start of the final free practice session. Under an somewhat grey sky we see Kevin Magnussen come out first for and installation lap followed by teammate Romain Grosjean. Kimi Räikkönen sets the first lap time after about seven minutes.

The opening phase of the session is very quiet. After twenty minutes or so, we see more and more drivers leave their pit box, among them Max Verstappen. The Dutchman drives on the red marked soft tyres and sets a 1:29.617 as for his first timed lap, taking the lead so far. Halfway the third free practice the top six if formed by Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton (+0.369), Sergio Pérez (+0.542), Pierre Gasly (+0.615), Esteban Ocon (+0.658) and Alexander Albon (+0.777).

After two cooldown laps, Max does another quick lap and improves his time by sixteen thousandths of a second. What is striking is that the DRS of the RB16 does not seem to function correctly. The rear wings ‘opens’, but it wobbles in the passing air. After a practice start the Dutchman returns to the team to fix the issue.

With more than fifteen minutes to go, Valtteri Bottas takes the lead from Verstappen when he sets a 1:28.721. Teammate Lewis Hamilton takes that one step further by taking off a tenth of a second. As the same time Max is doing another lap. With a 1:28.355, on a new set of softs, he refers the two Mercedes to second and third position.

In the final phase of the third free practice nobody improves Verstappen’s time, so he finishes the session first. Lewis Hamilton (+0.263) and Valtteri Bottas (+0.366) complete the top three. Teammate Alexander Albon (+0.663) joins those three in fourth position.

Contest GP Bahrain: win a by Max signed Red Bull Racing driver cap!

Results third free practice Bahrain: