Mercedes set the quickest time in testing for the third day in a row on Thursday in Bahrain.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli lowered the best time seen so far in testing to 1’32.803, getting within three seconds of last year’s pole position time at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Max Verstappen was the first driver to improve on the quickest time from the first part of the day’s test. He went on to cover the highest mileage of any driver on the penultimate day.

Oscar Piastri eventually returned McLaren to the top of the times with a best lap of 1’32.861. However with less than an hour remaining Antonelli narrowly beat that in his Mercedes.

Having done only five laps in the morning, Lewis Hamilton was quick to rejoin the track when the session resumed. Ferrari switched back to their conventional rear wing design having tested an unusual new model which rotated its main flap 180 degrees when activated.

With around 20 minutes left, Hamilton moved up to fourth place in the times. The Ferrari arguably looked best when teams performed their practice starts at the end of the session, Hamilton pulling off the line noticeably more smoothly than his rivals and arriving at the first corner before them.

Only nine cars participated in the race start test at the end of the day. It briefly looked like there would only be eight, as Piastri had trouble changing up from first gear as he left the pits and temporarily parked in the turn one bypass before rejoining.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin were missing from the grid. Alonso came to a stop within an hour of the session resuming at turn four, triggering a red flag, and did not return to the track.

Pre-season test three, day two results

Pos. Car number Driver Team Model Best time Gap Laps
1 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W17 1’32.803 79
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren MCL40 1’32.861 0.058 86
3 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull RB22 1’33.162 0.359 139
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari SF-26 1’33.408 0.605 78
5 1 Lando Norris McLaren MCL40 1’33.453 0.650 72
6 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine A526 1’33.818 1.015 120
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi R26 1’33.987 1.184 73
8 63 George Russell Mercedes W17 1’34.111 1.308 77
9 31 Esteban Ocon Haas VF-26 1’34.201 1.398 58
10 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 03 1’34.532 1.729 106
11 23 Alexander Albon Williams FW48 1’34.555 1.752 117
12 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi R26 1’35.263 2.460 29
13 87 Oliver Bearman Haas VF-26 1’35.279 2.476 69
14 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1’35.369 2.566 50
15 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin AMR26 1’37.472 4.669 68
16 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1’40.193 7.390 58

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