Ferrari Tops Timesheets on Third Day of Pre-Season Testing

Today, Friday, Feb. 23, was the final day for the F1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and Ferrari topped the timesheets even on the last day of testing as well before the Bahrain Grand Prix 2024. 

Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc topped the time sheets with a lap time of 1m30.322s. 

Mercedes' George Russell ranked second with a lap time of 1m30.368s, while Kick Sauber's Guanyu Zhou ranked third with a lap time of 1m30.647s.

Three-time F1 world champion and Redbull's Max Verstappen finished fourth with a lap time of 1m30.755s, while his teammate Sergio Perez finished tenth, dropping eight positions from the second day of pre-season testing. 

RB's Yuki Tsunoda, who ranked seventeenth on the second day of pre-season testing, finished fifth with a lap time of 1m30.775s.

Tsunoda was followed by Williams' driver Alex Albon in sixth, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso finished eighth. 

Lerclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who topped the timesheets on the second day of pre-season testing, dropped to ninth with a lap time of 1m31.247s. 

On the second day, Sainz was the first driver to breach the 1m30 barrier with a 1m29.921s.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton fell to twelfth from third with a lap time of 1m31.999s.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri climbed to seventh, while his teammate Lando Norris dropped to fourteenth during the final day of pre-season testing. 

Tsunoda's teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished last with a lap time of 1m37.015s.

Although Ferrari topped the timesheets on both days of pre-season testing, the start of the F1 2024 season next week will only tell the real pecking order for the new season.