Max Verstappen fastest overall after three days of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain

Max Verstappen set the fastest overall time of Formula 1 pre-season testing on the final day in Bahrain, while Mercedes drivers voiced their concern that they may have fallen down the pecking order.

Red Bull split the two sessions on day three between drivers, with Sergio Pérez fastest in the morning before times fell under the setting sun and Verstappen rocketed to the top of the timesheets.

Verstappen's lap of 1:31.720 was the fastest time set in three days as the team ran a program focused on understanding the new tyres for 2022, while also exhibiting a new sidepod design.

"The main focus today was testing the tyres we are going to use next week," said Verstappen.

"The car felt alright and we completed the programme we set out to do, so that’s always positive."

"No one gives full beans or goes to qualifying spec at testing, so we can’t read too much into the timing screens."

"The new parts we tested today worked well which is what we always hope for.”

"Looks like Red Bull have come alive with some upgrades for the car," said F1TV analyst Jolyon Palmer.

"Verstappen seemed very comfortable as soon as he got in this afternoon, and the car looks like it's picked up a lot of front end and he's able to position it more aggressively."

The Red Bull driver was fastest ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Alpine's Fernando Alonso.

Leclerc said the three days of testing in Bahrain combined with the Barcelona shakedown had made the pre-season one of the best in his career.

"It’s definitely one of the smoothest preparations I’ve had [for] a season," said Leclerc.

"No major issues and especially on such a new project you always expect to find some barriers on the way, and for now, apart from porpoising that is still an issue in some conditions, it’s been quite smooth and we’ve managed to just keep improving."

"But for now I honestly have no idea where we are."

"But it’s definitely been a smoother six days of testing."

Teams have been quick to remind us that lap times from the test should be disregarded.

"The lap times are irrelevant," said Red Bull Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin.

"Today was more about putting together the lessons we have learned over the past few days."

"It was about going through the process of running different compounds, so that the drivers are happy and that we have a platform to work from for next week."

"Judging the car from a performance point of view is less easy, we struggled to get the first laps out of the harder tyres but on softer rubber it's coming more easily and we look to be in better shape," said Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director at Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.

"It feels like we need to find a bit of pace if we want to be fighting for the win at the first race but we're learning and developing at a good rate so we'll just focus on those aspects and see where we stand in seven days' time."

Despite the neutral analysis from team engineers, both Mercedes drivers have voiced concerns that they may not be at the front of the pack next Sunday

"At the moment, I don’t think we will be competing for wins," said Lewis Hamilton.

"We are not the quickest at the moment."

"I think Ferrari look to be the quickest, perhaps Red Bull and then maybe us or McLaren, I don’t know."

"But we are currently not at the top."

"We are a step behind our rivals," said teammate George Russell.

"We do have a lot of work to do between now and next week to understand, because in every condition the Red Bull and the Ferrari seem a step ahead of us."

Despite the uncertainty, Hamilton remained positive about his team's potential.

"There's a confidence within the team that we can always work through whatever problem we're facing and that's what we'll do," he said.

"I have all the faith in the men and women back at the factories to get on top of our issues."

"One thing is for certain, we'll be bringing our fighting spirit to the first race next weekend!"

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo being taken out of the pre-season test after a positive COVID-19 test seems to have been the least of McLaren's issues.

The team has been dealing with a front-brake cooling issue that has seriously hampered their track time.

"After a positive start in Barcelona, we’ve had a very challenging test here in Bahrain" said McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl.

"Our running has been compromised by an issue on the front axle."

"Time constraints did not allow us to entirely solve this during the test but we were able to move forward, despite a limitation in the number of laps we could complete."

"We continued to improve our understanding of the car and extract more performance over the course of the test."

McLaren did see some progress on Saturday, with Lando Norris able to complete a lot more running on track.

"The objective is to fully solve this issue before next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, giving it our all here at the track and at the MTC to catch-up on what we’ve lost over the past three days," said Seidl.

"Thanks to our entire trackside team, the team back home at the factory and our colleagues from Mercedes HPP for their hard work during this test."

"Thanks also to Lando for completing all three days, with Daniel unavailable, testing positive for covid."

"We wish him a speedy recovery and are looking forward to having him back next weekend for the first race of the season."

"Winter testing has now concluded and we’re very excited to be going racing again."