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With times at the Bahrain International Circuit improving as teams shifted to more performance work, Leclerc clocked a 1m31.024s on Pirelli’s C5 tyres to lead Mercedes’ George Russell by four tenths.
Following two flawless days, Alfa Romeo hit trouble in Sakhir, Valtteri Bottas causing a red flag as he ground to a halt with suspected gearbox problems.
It was the second red flag of the session after Red Bull’s Perez lost a sensor in the opening minutes of the session.
The other notable on-track incident was a spin for Oscar Piastri in the McLaren, the Australian rookie losing control in Turn 10.
Piastri then spent a lengthy spell in the garages as McLaren was forced to strengthen the MCL60’s wheelbrows.
After various drivers logged early laps in the 1m33 range on the medium C3 tyres, times took a tumble when Russell went top with a 1m31.707s on the softer C4 compound.
The Mercedes driver improved upon his benchmark on the even softer C5s with a 1m31.564s …