Sergio Perez sets fastest overall lap on final day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain
Sergio Perez set the fastest overall time of three days of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Segio Perez on day three in Bahrain. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
The Red Bull went fastest by more than three-tenths of a second on the final day ahead of Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo.
Perez focused on long runs in the morning session before the field moved to softer compounds in the afternoon in their final running before the season opener next weekend.
Hamilton held the top spot early in the afternoon session on the softest C5 compound, before Perez went fastest with the slightly harder C4 tyres, setting a lap of 1:30.305 to take the fastest time of the three-day test.
Lewis Hamilton on day three of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain. (Stephen Reuss / Mercedes-AMG F1)
“It has been an interesting few days here in Bahrain,” said Hamilton.
“There has been a lot of discovery and the whole team has approached it with the same mentality, working hard, not being complacent and staying focused.”
“We're not quite where we want to be but it's a good platform to start from.”
“We don't know where we will be next week, but we will stay positive and continue to push to the maximum.”
Sergio Perez went fastest overall in the three-day test - click to expand. (Pirelli)
Ferrari once again took the fourth and fifth times of the day, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Australian Oscar Piastri was 16th-fastest ahead of fellow rookie Nyck de Vries for AlphaTauri.
“Day three done,” said Piastri on his first day of interrupted running.
“It wasn’t the smoothest of mornings as we had a few issues with the car.”
“I didn't get as many laps in as we would have liked.”
“But nonetheless we still got some good running, and I'm still learning all the time, which is good.”
“I think we’re in reasonable shape for next week, some more laps would be lovely but that’s always the case.”
“It’s been a good few days of working with the team, getting the season underway, thanks to them for their support.”
“I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot and I'm looking forward to getting out for my first race next week.”
Meanwhile, Pirelli has revealed that the 2023 tyres are expected to be 1.5 seconds quicker than the same compound in 2022, according to testing data.
Pirelli said teams have made good progress in managing tyre degradation during long runs, with most teams spending both Friday and Saturday completing race simulations ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 2023 Formula One World Championship begins 3-5 March in Bahrain.
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Perez topped day three ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas - click to expand. (Pirelli)
