Bahrain GP: Verstappen tops final practice times
Vettel watches lap times of competitors |
In the heat of the day, Red Bull's Max Verstappen turned the fastest lap in final practice for the Bahrain GP with a lap of 1m32.194s to nip Mercedes' Lews Hamilton by 0.110s.
With all drivers setting their best lap on the red 'soft' Pirellis, Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari 1/2-second behind the Red Bull.
The rest of the top eight was incredibly close, with less than two-tenths of a second covering Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, Williams’ Felipe Massa, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, the red flags came out briefly after Romain Grosjean lost the rear end of his Haas at Turn 4, spinning and losing his front wing against the tire wall. The Frenchman was able to rejoin the track and return to the pits for repairs, though, and resumed action before the hour was out.
Results
Pos | No | Driver | Car-Engine | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:32.194 | +0.000s | 8 |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes-Mercedes | 1:32.304 | +0.110s | 10 |
3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari-Ferrari | 1:32.750 | +0.556s | 10 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes-Mercedes | 1:32.754 | +0.560s | 13 |
5 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari-Ferrari | 1:32.785 | +0.591s | 9 |
6 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:32.801 | +0.607s | 12 |
7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:32.809 | +0.615s | 8 |
8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault-Renault | 1:32.933 | +0.739s | 9 |
9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:33.604 | +1.410s | 18 |
10 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:33.744 | +1.550s | 11 |
11 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:33.916 | +1.722s | 14 |
12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:33.922 | +1.728s | 10 |
13 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber Ferrari | 1:33.947 | +1.753s | 15 |
14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:33.965 | +1.771s | 15 |
15 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Honda | 1:34.027 | +1.833s | 15 |
16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:34.064 | +1.870s | 17 |
17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:34.198 | +2.004s | 13 |
18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:34.205 | +2.011s | 14 |
19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:34.268 | +2.074s | 15 |
20 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault-Renault | 1:34.417 | +2.223s | 11 |