Oscar Piastri completed a clean sweep of practice sessions for McLaren in Bahrain, beating team mate Lando Norris by six tenths of a second in the final hour of running before qualifying.

However lap times in the third practice session were over a second slower than yesterday.

Track conditions were not quite as hot as in first practice yesterday, but still well above the temperatures which are expected for qualifying. Several drivers remarked the track lacked grp.

George Russell was among them after spinning his Mercedes at the exit of turn 10. “I’d probably go as far as saying that’s the least amount of grip I’ve ever had in an F1 car,” the said afterwards.

Russell ended the session fourth fastest, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was the only driver to get within a second of Piastri.

Pierre Gasly impressed with the sixth-fastest time in his Alpine, but was in are of the McLaren drivers’ pace. “I can’t believe how fast these McLarens are at the moment,” he remarked near the end of the session.

As usual, Racing Bulls appeared to reveal more of their pace than the senior Red Bull team, Isack Hadjar taking seventh ahead of Max Verstappen.

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Carlos Sainz Jnr was ninth for Williams but reported a potential problem with his car on the way back to the pits. “There’s something with the engine that is not behaving normal,” he told his team. Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg’s session came to an early end when his Sauber ground to a halt halfway around a lap. A Virtual Safety Car period was used while his C45 was pushed behind a barrier.

But despite completing just seven laps he still ended the session ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. The new Red Bull driver was last, almost two seconds off team mate Verstappen.

2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Grand Prix third practice result

P.#DriverTeamModelTimeGapLaps
181Oscar PiastriMcLaren-MercedesMCL391’31.64613
24Lando NorrisMcLaren-MercedesMCL391’32.3140.66818
316Charles LeclercFerrariSF-251’32.4800.83419
463George RussellMercedesW161’32.8271.18113
512Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedesW161’32.9161.27012
610Pierre GaslyAlpine-RenaultA5251’32.9741.32818
76Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT021’33.0231.37715
81Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPTRB211’33.0271.38113
955Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-MercedesFW471’33.0921.44615
1044Lewis HamiltonFerrariSF-251’33.1111.46518
1131Esteban OconHaas-FerrariVF-251’33.2401.59417
127Jack DoohanAlpine-RenaultA5251’33.3471.70118
1330Liam LawsonRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT021’33.3701.7244
1414Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-MercedesAMR251’33.5481.90218
1523Alexander AlbonWilliams-MercedesFW471’33.7532.1074
1687Oliver BearmanHaas-FerrariVF-251’34.3352.68918
1718Lance StrollAston Martin-MercedesAMR251’34.3632.71716
185Gabriel BortoletoSauber-FerrariC451’34.5182.87216
1927Nico HulkenbergSauber-FerrariC451’34.6362.9907
2022Yuki TsunodaRed Bull-Honda RBPTRB211’34.9653.31915

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Grand Prix combined practice times

P.#DriverTeamFP1 timeFP2 timeFP3 timeGapLaps
181Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1’34.5081’30.5051’31.64667
24Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’33.2041’30.6591’32.3140.15469
363George RussellMercedes1’31.0321’32.8270.52738
416Charles LeclercFerrari1’31.0451’32.4800.54046
512Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes1’38.0511’31.2271’32.9160.72242
66Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’34.6671’31.2381’33.0230.73361
71Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’31.3301’33.0270.82540
844Lewis HamiltonFerrari1’33.8001’31.5761’33.1111.07164
987Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1’31.5841’34.3351.07945
1055Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-Mercedes1’31.6231’33.0921.11843
1123Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1’33.9281’31.6961’33.7531.19157
1230Liam LawsonRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’34.3971’31.7061’33.3701.20154
135Gabriel BortoletoSauber-Ferrari1’34.6281’31.7721’34.5181.26764
147Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault1’34.3961’31.7881’33.3471.28368
1514Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-Mercedes1’31.8251’33.5481.32037
1631Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1’34.1841’31.8701’33.2401.36563
1710Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1’33.4421’31.9471’32.9741.44268
1822Yuki TsunodaRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’34.4841’32.0241’34.9651.51963
1918Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’35.1161’32.3821’34.3631.87766
2027Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’34.2621’32.4961’34.6361.99155
2146Luke BrowningWilliams-Mercedes1’34.8854.38020
2238Dino BeganovicFerrari1’35.0554.55020
2334Felipe DrugovichAston Martin-Mercedes1’35.1984.69319
2450Ryo HirakawaHaas-Ferrari1’35.2614.75620
2572Frederik VestiMercedes1’35.3254.82026
2637Ayumu IwasaRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’35.4754.97020

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix

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