F1 Preseason Testing: Leclerc fastest for Ferrari on Day 3 morning

The final day of F1 preseason testing is half-complete and Charles Leclerc put his #16 Ferrari on top with a lap of 1m30.811s around the Bahrain International Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

“There is no point, in predicting who really is fastest,” Max verstappen told reporters when asked to predict the pecking order. “You can guess how much fuel everyone is using and which engine mode they’re in, but after ten years, I’m a bit done with that.”

Kimi Antonelli was 2nd fastest for Mercedes, 0.077s behind Leclerc.

Lando Norris, believed to be the fastest for McLaren, was third quick, 0.132s behind Leclerc.

“It feels similar, which is a good start,” Norris said on Thursday of the McLaren MCL39 versus last year’s car.

“Nothing’s been majorly addressed, let’s say, it’s not like that much has changed.

“We’ve just tried to make the car quick all around and add more load.

“We still want to try and focus on some areas more than others,” he added.

“We’ve struggled a bit more with the rear than what we would have liked over yesterday and today, but it’s still early days.”

Verstappen put his Red Bull Honda in 4th, 0.398s behind Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Jack Doohan rounded out the top-5 for Alpine, 0.428s behind Leclerc.

The final five minutes of the session saw the FIA are starting to cycle through their own tests – Safety Cars and red flags and the like.

2025 F1 Preseason Testing Day 3 Morning Results