Bizarre red flags hamper F1 testing as Mercedes emerges on top

Russell banked the fastest lap of the test in a day punctuated by two bizarre red flags.

The first came when a glass panel on the starter’s gantry fell onto the front straight, where it shattered.

The second interruption came when a bus entered the run-off area while cars were on track at full speed.

The FIA confirmed to Speedcafe that both incidents will be reviewed as is standard practice.

Russell’s test-topping lap came in the latter stages of the day as the focus switched towards qualifying simulations.

Little can therefore be taken from the lap time itself, which was only 0.02s faster than Max Verstappen for Red Bull, and scarcely a tenth up on Alex Albon’s Williams.

More meaningful were the long runs earlier in the day as teams worked through race simulations.

That painted an encouraging picture for McLaren despite the car proving something of a handful; both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris having to deal with a lively rear end.

Ferrari, too, was far from settled, though understeer appeared more of an issue for the Scuderia, especially with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel.

Red Bull tested several new elements, including a nose, with Verstappen in the car throughout the day’s running.

The Dutchman was rapid, second fastest to Russell, but logged only 81 laps across the day.

A lack of mileage is either a sign of supreme confidence out of Milton Keynes, or an indicator of issues in the car – exactly which is unclear.

There is no doubt about Williams, which again impressed.

Albon was third fastest as the team built on the impressive pace displayed earlier in the week – a performance that has prompted some to thrust it into contention with the leading four team.

Less impressive was Aston Martin, which Fernando Alonso doing the bulk of the work on the final day after Lance Stroll came down unwell overnight.

The Canadian did manage 34 laps after lunch but ultimately had to hand the car back to Alonso.

That process took time and cost the team important laps; it managed 116 across its driver pairings on Friday.

Unlike the opening two days, conditions were warmer, a point that was both good and bad news for engineers.

On the one hand, it offered a more consistent and representative track on which to test, while at the same time being so much warmer than the previous days that it made data difficult to correlate.

What was clear is that the F1 circus leaves Bahrain with McLaren favourites ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull, while Ferrari looks to have slipped to fourth best – though it’s an incredibly close-run thing.

So too is the rest of the pecking order, with Williams appearing to have made a jump, though Alpine also had its time in the sun courtesy of Pierre Gasly.

The Frenchman was fastest for much of the afternoon and ultimately only slipped to fifth fastest – his best lap coming much earlier than his rivals’ and still within half a second of the pace.

With testing complete, F1 now heads to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix on March 13-16.

Pre-Season Test: Day 3 Results