FP3: Piastri tops the timesheets from Norris and Leclerc during final practice in Bahrain

Oscar Piastri set the pace during the third and final practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Australian leading the way by a stunning margin of more than half a second from Lando Norris while Charles Leclerc took third.

Amid another day of hot and sunny conditions in Sakhir – with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius – the drivers returned to action at 1530 local time for a last opportunity to fine-tune their cars and prepare for Qualifying, which will take place later on Saturday.

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It was a quiet start when the green light was displayed, with just Ollie Bearman initially taking to the track for Haas on the hard tyre while the likes of Norris and Max Verstappen were seen chatting to members of their respective teams in the pit lane.

Bearman and team mate Esteban Ocon were soon joined on the circuit by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc, both sporting the soft compound. And with Bearman reporting that the difference in grip from the day and night sessions was “crazy”, it appeared that the tricky conditions experienced in Friday’s FP1 were again at play.

While most of the pack opted for the soft or hard tyre for their opening runs, Alpine bucked the trend by choosing the medium. But it was Piastri who had set the pace on a soft-shod run by the halfway point of the session, the McLaren man going quickest on a lap of 1m 33.324s to put him four-tenths clear of team mate Norris with Fernando Alonso third for Aston Martin.

Verstappen, meanwhile, aborted his flying run after going wide and returned to the pits for some set-up changes to his Red Bull, while George Russell joined the action with 30 minutes left on the clock, the Briton having seemingly been content to wait for slightly cooler conditions to arrive.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from FP2 in Bahrain as Piastri sets the pace from Norris

There was trouble for Nico Hulkenberg as the German was forced to stop his Kick Sauber at Turn 8 after going into anti-stall, triggering the yellow flags before a brief Virtual Safety Car was called. As the green flags were thrown and the action picked up, Verstappen moved up to second despite another slightly wide moment out on track.

An unusual problem hit Leclerc as one of the Monegasque’s wing mirrors was seen flying off his Ferrari. Liam Lawson, meanwhile, was unhappy at being overtaken by Russell, the Racing Bulls driver telling his engineer that the move was “so annoying”.

Speaking of Russell, the Briton brought out the yellow flags for a moment following a spin at Turn 10 before going on to declare that the conditions offered the “least amount of grip” he had ever experienced in an F1 car.

As the clock ticked down, attentions turned to flying runs and a flurry of quick times saw the order on the timesheets rapidly evolve. When this had shaken out, Piastri had set an impressive benchmark of 1m 31.646s – and while others tried to challenge, team mate Norris was still 0.668s back as the closest rival in second.

Leclerc took the accolade of being the only other car within a second of Piastri in third, with Russell and Kimi Antonelli further off for Mercedes in fourth and fifth respectively. Pierre Gasly was an eye-catching sixth for Alpine, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, Verstappen, Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Hamilton completed the top 10.

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Ocon led Haas’ charge in P11, from Jack Doohan in the Alpine, Lawson, Alonso and the Williams of Alex Albon. Bearman claimed P16, leading the way from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Bortoleto in P17 and P18, while Hulkenberg was P19 after being unable to rejoin the action. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, brought up the rear in 20th place for Red Bull.

With the final practice session of the weekend now complete, the drivers and teams will have a final chance to debrief before returning to action for Qualifying at 1900 local time.