Charles Leclerc ensured that Ferrari remained at the top of the timesheets as the curtain came down on pre-season testing ahead of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The Monegasque driver strapped on the C5 compound – the grippiest in Pirelli’s range this season – to post a 1:30.332s, three-tenths behind the fastest time of testing.
Mercedes had disguised its pace throughout the three days, but a late dash on the C4 tyre saw George Russell shoot up to second in the order, 0.046s down on Leclerc.
Prior to the late red flag procedure, Sauber emerged as a late surprise with Guanyu Zhou posting a lap on the same compound as Russell that was three-tenths down.
However, Max Verstappen remained within four-tenths of Leclerc on the C3, which will be the softest rubber available to the teams for next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
That quartet had taken over from their respective team-mates for the final afternoon, which occurred while on-track running was still viable after lunch was cancelled.
For the second consecutive day, there was a prolonged stoppage to address a drain cover that had become dislodged on the approach to the uphill left-hander at Turn 11.
On this occasion, the red flag arrived less than half an hour into proceedings when Sergio Perez ran over the kerb, resulting in a delay that lasted over an hour in total.
Daniel Ricciardo had been unable to show RB’s earlier promise with the disruption, but team-mate Yuki Tsunoda rose to fifth place on the C5, 0.453s down on Leclerc.
Williams was the sole team on the grid to have one driver running the entire time, with Alex Albon setting a 1:30.984s as he added a vital 121 laps to the FW46’s mileage.
McLaren’s running had been limited further with a suspected clutch issue that confined Lando Norris to just 20 laps before he handed the MCL38 over to Oscar Piastri.
Piastri managed to produce a respectable effort on the C3 compound, though, to end within three-tenths of Verstappen’s best time on identical rubber to the Red Bull.
The Australian, entering his sophomore F1 season, was ahead of Fernando Alonso, with Carlos Sainz, who holds the quickest testing time, the highest-placed morning driver.
Perez concluded his preparations with Red Bull inside the top 10, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who showed some potential for Haas having focused on long runs beforehand.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton languished in 12th place despite posting his best time on the C5 tyre, 1.6s behind the benchmark Leclerc posted on an identical compound.
Lance Stroll was 13th in the second Aston Martin, ahead of Norris. Alpine’s muted testing run continued with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon 15th and 17th respectively.
Kevin Magnussen split the two Alpine cars for Haas, with Valtteri Bottas having been restricted to 28 laps as Sauber placed the shutters over its garage in the morning.
Ricciardo, who accrued 70 laps for RB on the hardest C1 compound, brought up the rear of the order, with the cars next hitting the track for the opening grand prix of 2024.
Discussion about this post