Russell goes fastest on final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain

George Russell ended the third and final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on top, the Mercedes man having just pipped Max Verstappen to P1 in the dying moments of the three-day test.

After Charles Leclerc led the way for Ferrari during the morning’s running on Friday, most teams swapped their drivers over for the afternoon with the exception of Red Bull and Williams, with Verstappen and Alex Albon staying behind the wheel for their respective teams.

LIVE COVERAGE: All the action from Day 3 of 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain

While the later session generally gets off to a slower start as some squads continue to prepare for their other driver to jump in the car, Haas were quick out of the blocks for Friday’s final few hours on track, Esteban Ocon being the first to head out following a tricky morning for the team that saw a piece of their engine cover fly off.

Pierre Gasly was the early pace-setter, before Verstappen – who looked to be on a series of shorter runs – displaced the Alpine man at the top of the timesheets, the World Champion going quickest with a lap of 1m 29.844s.

As the session headed into its final 90 minutes, it was all change at Aston Martin. After sitting out the morning session due to not feeling “100%”, Lance Stroll had initially returned to action for the afternoon but, after completing 34 laps, handed over to Fernando Alonso due to still feeling unwell.

This led to the team quickly working to prepare the car for Alonso, something that they were able to do in enough time to get the Spaniard out on track for the final hour under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit.

READ MORE: Leclerc sets pace on final morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain

Further changes ensued on the timesheets – with Albon the next to go fastest during a qualifying simulation on the medium C4 tyres – before Verstappen took over the P1 slot again, pumping in a 1m 29.566s on the C3 compound.

Despite some drivers having a moment on track in the final half hour – with both Ocon and Verstappen triggering the yellow flags after suffering spins – the latter’s fastest time looked like it would be unbeaten. However, Russell caused a surprise by jumping to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1m 29.545s, beating Verstappen by 0.021s, while Albon took P3 for Williams.

Piastri was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Gasly in fifth while Lewis Hamilton ended the day in sixth after completing 47 laps in the Ferrari. Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda followed in seventh, with Ocon eighth for Haas after reaching a century of laps during the session.

Leclerc, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Jack Doohan for Alpine placed from ninth to 12th respectively following their morning running, while Stroll’s curtailed session put him in 13th.

READ MORE: Upbeat Hamilton feels start to life at Ferrari ‘couldn’t have gone better’ as he declares ‘sole focus’ of winning

Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was P14 ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Alonso, and rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman rounded out the order for Kick Sauber and Haas.

With 2025 pre-season testing now complete, the focus of the paddock will turn to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which is set to take place on March 14-16.