It is the final morning of the 2022 Formula 1 pre-season test in Bahrain, with Sergio Perez going fastest for Red Bull.
The Mexican seems to be relishing the upgrade package Red Bull brought to their RB18, with those chiseled side pods, Perez going fastest once they were bolted on the car.
Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu was second fastest over eight tenths off the pace of the Red Bull, as Pierre Gasly was third for AlphaTauri a further nine tenths adrift.
Fourth went to Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, the team still looking good around Bahrain, and was followed by Fernando Alonso, fifth in the Alpine, the French team enjoying another day of solid running.
Lando Norris was sixth fastest followed by Williams' Nicholas Latifi in seventh, the team bouncing back from their fiery Thursday.
Aston Martin were eighth with Lance Stroll at the wheel, with four-time F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel taking over the AMR22 after the lunch break.
Ninth went to Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Are the World Champions in trouble? Or is it the best sandbagging show ever they are putting on?
Kevin Magnussen took the final position of the top ten, the Dane's running marred with technical issues all morning.
The final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain started a bit earlier, albeit for Haas, the team beginning testing an hour earlier than others, as part of the agreement to allow the American team to compensate for missed running in Day 1's AM, caused by delayed cargo. Haas will run two extra hours at the end of Day 3.
Driver lineup, with Daniel Ricciardo away after positive Covid test
The big news for day three was unfortunate, as McLaren announced that Daniel Ricciardo, ill since Day 1, has tested positive for Covid-19, which meant that Lando Norris will continue testing efforts for the Woking squad on the final day, the team reportedly received their new brake ducts, in time to run them on the final day.
The good thing is that Ricciardo should be out of isolation in time for the season opener, the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix new week.
Other than McLaren, Mercedes were fielding seven-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton in the W13 on the morning session of the final day, with George Russell set to conclude the test for the World Champions in the afternoon.
Carlos Sainz was at the wheel of the Ferrari F1-75 in the morning, while Charles Leclerc was set to take over in the afternoon, the Scuderia still showing impressive form, hopefully not a fluke.
Alpine will have Fernando Alonso at the wheel of the A522 all day, while Pierre Gasly was on morning duty at AlphaTauri, handing over to Yuki Tsunoda on the afternoon.
A Canadian morning on Day 3 in Bahrain with Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi on track for Aston Martin and Williams respectively, with their teammates taking over in the PM.
Alfa Romeo had Zhou Guanyu in the C42 in the morning, while Finn Valtteri Bottas is planned to run in the afternoon.
Red Bull steals the show with it's new upgrade
Red Bull debuted an upgrade package on their RB18 on the final day of testing, with new side pods and revised floor, and Christian Horner spoke to Sky Sports about them and said: "It's a constant evolution... we've obviously got a few new parts this morning and we're evaluating.
"[Sergio] seems to be happy with the characteristics of the car. But it's so hard to draw any real conclusions, all you can do is focus on your own programme.
"It seems to be behaving as we hoped for," said Horner of the package, but went on to talk up Ferrari saying: "I think the one consistent thing is that every time the Ferrari is on track, it looks competitive. The McLaren when it's running looks competitive.
"Mercedes I think haven't shown their hand yet, the car looks a bit of a handful to drive. Williams, meanwhile, on the long run looks competitive. But the formbook is impossible to predict," the Briton concluded.
Top runners are sandbagging big time
That is the claim of Martin Brundle who told Sky Sports F1, who commented on Magnussen's fastest time on Thursday saying: "It tells you the Haas is not bad, it tells you it was less windy, and cooler last night.
"And it absolutely confirms that the top runners are sandbagging big time. That’s why you see Mercedes right down the bottom of the list with top speed times. Maybe we’re going to get more of a representative feel today for ultimate pace, maybe not. I’m sure there’ll still be some sandbagging going on.
"I’m hoping we’re going to see a few juicy bits here and there up and down the pit lane as teams go for gold on their latest iteration and what they’ll probably start with next Friday," Brundle concluded.
Reliability problems at Haas
Almost an hour and a half into the morning session, the Haas' VF22 developed a water leak that forced Kevin Magnussen back into the team's Garage, however that did done take time has the Dane was back on track 15 minutes later to continue his comeback.
Yesterday Magnussen reflected on his first day of F1 running in the Haas and said: "It was so good to be back in a Formula 1 car and so good to be back with the team – I think it went really well. We had a good day of testing.
"I spent the first couple of runs getting back up to speed with a Formula 1 car but other than that it felt like I hadn't been away. I could feel my neck at the end of it though – it kind of broke – but that's expected. I'll do another day tomorrow, break it even more, and then hopefully get in a little better shape for next week," he concluded.
With less than hour running, Haas announced that they have faced another issues related to the fuel system on the VF22, that has kept them from further running. Only 38 laps despite their extra hour of running in the morning.
The session was Red Flagged with 15 minutes remaining on the clock, as the FIA went through another systems' check for their restart systems again, simulating a standing start this time around, which was aborted with an additional formation lap instructed, after which a standing start was executed.
Bahrain day 3 morning session times and lap count
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