Antonelli Sets the Pace as Mercedes Bounce Back
Kimi Antonelli, the Formula 1 championship leader, set the fastest time in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, lapping the Sepang International Circuit in 1m36.302s. The Mercedes driver became the first to dip below 1m37s this weekend, using a second set of soft tyres to secure the top spot. His performance marked a turnaround for Mercedes, which had endured a challenging Friday. Deputy team principal Bradley Lord explained that the team ran overnight simulator sessions to diagnose why their upgrades had improved medium- and high-speed cornering but hurt low-speed performance, previously a strength. The work appeared to pay off, as Antonelli led the session.[S1][S2]
Max Verstappen continued Red Bull's strong practice form, finishing second, just 0.278s behind Antonelli. His teammate Isack Hadjar made it two Red Bulls in the top three, 0.558s off the pace, despite complaining early on that the upgraded RB22 was unpredictable through Turns 1 and 9. George Russell was fourth in the other Mercedes, 0.610s down, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton completed the top six, 0.714s and 0.739s adrift respectively. Hamilton lost time to traffic on one run and finished on a second set of softs, while Leclerc was the only driver to use a set of hard tyres, leaving him one set for the race.[S1][S2]
Midfield Battles and Tyre Challenges
McLaren struggled to extract performance from the soft compound in FP3, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ending up seventh and eighth. Norris set his best lap on the medium tyre, finishing 0.859s off the pace, while Piastri was a full second down, having found only a tenth of a second going from medium to soft. Track temperatures in the mid-50s°C meant tyres were only good for a single flying lap, and even after cool-down laps or pit stops, laptimes did not improve. Franco Colapinto, who faces a 15-place grid penalty, led the midfield for Alpine in ninth, 1.618s off the pace, ahead of rookie Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls and Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi.[S1][S2]
Fernando Alonso indicated Aston Martin might be a Q2 threat at Sepang by setting the 12th-fastest time, just over three tenths down on Colapinto's Alpine and 0.018s up on Pierre Gasly's. Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Perez completed the order. The session results showed Antonelli leading Verstappen, Hadjar, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Colapinto, and Lindblad in the top ten.[S1][S2]
