BAHRAIN : The Monegasque driver delivered a commanding performance, putting Ferrari at the top of the timesheets and sending an early message ahead of the new season.
Driving for Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc completed an impressive 132 laps around the Sakhir circuit, more than two race distances, showcasing both reliability and raw speed. No other driver came close to matching his benchmark time.
Finishing second was reigning British world champion Lando Norris of McLaren, who ended the session 0.817 seconds behind Leclerc. Despite the strong result, McLaren engineers were seen working extensively on Norris’s car throughout the day, fine-tuning performance ahead of the season opener.
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Four-time world champion Max Verstappen secured third place, finishing more than a second off the pace, while George Russell put Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in fourth position.
The session was not without setbacks. Aston Martin F1 Team was forced to end its day prematurely after completing only six laps. The team has been grappling with battery-related issues since the previous day and reportedly ran out of spare components.
The struggles come amid sweeping changes to Formula 1 regulations. Under the new rules, batteries must now supply 50 per cent of the power to the cars’ power units.
Meanwhile, the new Audi F1 Team entry made steady progress. Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto guided the team to seventh place, while German veteran Nico Hülkenberg placed fifteenth.
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