MOTORSPORT – GEORGE Russell grabbed the spotlight last night as the curtain came down on Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2025 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
Russell set the pace for Mercedes on the third and final day of running in Sakhir. The stage is now set for the start of the 2025 FIA F1 World Championship later this month.
Russell left it late and set the fastest overall time in the closing minutes of yesterday’s afternoon session, held under BIC’s bright floodlights. The Briton clocked a best lap time of one minute 29.545 seconds in his W16 contender.
Russell’s time, while quickest on day three, was fourth-best for the entire test at BIC. Carlos Sainz of Williams clocked the top mark this week of 1:29.348, which led day two.
“It’s amazing to drive the car again,” said Russell last night. “It’s feeling great to drive. We’ll be working super hard between now and Melbourne to try and bring a bit more performance.
“Huge thanks to the whole team who brought this car to life.”
Four-time defending drivers’ world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing came close to topping the timesheet last night until Russell’s late foray to the summit. At the chequered flag, only 0.021 seconds separated the pair. “I think we had a decent day today,” said Verstappen, who was in his RB21 challenger for the full day, completing 81 laps for 438 kilometres. “There were a few little problems, but overall, we completed quite a bit of what we wanted to do.”
Charles Leclerc had earlier led the morning runs in his Ferrari SF-25 with a quickest lap of 1:30.811, which was eventually ninth best at the end of the day.
“This has been a very different type of pre-season testing, because of the inconsistent weather in Bahrain, making it hard to come to any real conclusions,” said Leclerc.
“The wind changed from run to run, there was even some rain yesterday, and temperatures fluctuated over the course of the week, so all the teams head to the first race with some more unknowns compared to the past few years.
“We still learned a huge amount, especially in terms of the way the car feels now that we’ve actually been out on track.”
Leclerc and Verstappen were joined in yesterday’s morning test by Williams’ Alex Albon in his FW47, McLaren’s Lando Norris in his MCL39, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in his W16, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in his AMR25, Alpine’s Jack Doohan in his A525, Haas’ Oliver Bearman in his VF-25, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in his VCARB 02, and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in his C45.
In the evening, Verstappen and Albon remained in the car as the two drivers who tested the full day. They were on track with Russell, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda, and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Russell completed 91 laps or 492km in distance for Mercedes en route to setting the overall pace. Albon finished behind Verstappen in third on the timesheet, 0.105s behind the leader. He registered the highest mileage of day three with 136 laps for 736km of testing.
Piastri was fourth overall 0.395s adrift, Gasly fifth 0.495s back, and Hamilton sixth 0.800s from former teammate Russell.
Tsunoda had a best lap 0.952s from the top to go seventh and Ocon was 1.183s off in eighth. Completing the top 10 were Leclerc in ninth, whose best was 1.266s slower than Russell’s, and Antonelli, who was 1.343s behind.
Rounding out the day’s classification from 11th through 18th, respectively, were Norris (+1.398s), Doohan (+1.694s), Stroll (+2.154s), Hulkenberg (+2.181s), Hadjar (+2.216s), Alonso (+2.539s), Bortoleto (+2.602s), and Bearman (+2.816s).
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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