Antonelli ends Bahrain GP in Malaysia final practice on top from Verstappen and Hadjar at Sepang

Antonelli leads the way in final practice

Kimi Antonelli topped the third and final practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit, setting a fastest lap of 1:36.302 to finish 0.278 seconds clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, according to Formula1.com. Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar was third, half a second back, with Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate George Russell fourth and six-tenths adrift. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in fifth and sixth. ¹²

Sky Sports reported that Antonelli, who leads the Drivers' Championship by 66 points from Russell, struggled on Friday but appeared to find a rhythm in time for qualifying, setting up a Mercedes versus Red Bull fight for pole position. Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson said Red Bull would have hoped to be closer to Mercedes but were 'there or thereabouts once again', adding that Red Bull are quickly becoming the biggest threat to Mercedes on any given weekend. ²

The Independent described Antonelli's lap as an ominous marker ahead of qualifying, noting that the Mercedes driver leads Russell by 66 points in the world championship with eight scheduled rounds remaining. Dive-bomb.com's lap-by-lap account recorded Antonelli's closing benchmark as a 1:36.202, a discrepancy with the official Formula1.com result listing of 1:36.302; the official timesheet figure is used here. ⁴⁵¹

How the session unfolded at a hot Sepang

Formula1.com reported a quiet start when the green light appeared at 1230 local time, with Sergio Perez, one of 10 current drivers present when Formula 1 last raced at Sepang in 2017, the first on track. Charles Leclerc set an early benchmark of 1:37.772 on the hard compound, before Lando Norris displaced him six tenths faster on the medium tyre, with Oscar Piastri second but three tenths behind Norris. A red flag was thrown just before the halfway point when debris came off Oliver Bearman's Haas at Turn 10, with several drivers including both Mercedes cars, Verstappen and Hamilton yet to appear at that stage. ¹²

After the restart, Antonelli went quickest on a 1:36.924 on the soft tyres, according to Formula1.com, with Verstappen setting the fastest first sector but winding up fourth after seemingly encountering traffic, while Hamilton was seen waving after being held up by the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad. At that stage Norris was running third, Formula1.com reported, and with 15 minutes left the McLaren pair switched to soft tyres. Norris could not improve on the softs and ultimately finished the session seventh, with Piastri eighth. Sky Sports noted Norris' best lap was set on the mediums, suggesting McLaren retain room for improvement. ¹²

Dive-bomb.com recorded air temperature of 32°C, 51 percent humidity and track temperatures of 56°C falling to 55°C during the session, with the C2, C3 and C4 compounds available and most teams opting for the C3 compound. Sky Sports noted that tyres are a major talking point this weekend due to the extremely rough track surface coupled with high temperatures and humidity. In first practice, ESPN reported Leclerc describing tyre degradation as 'insane' and Antonelli calling the grip 'crazy low' on a dusty track. ⁵²⁶

There is a conflict over Antonelli's final lap time: dive-bomb.com stated he crossed the line with a 1:36.202 to end the session, while the Formula1.com result listing and Sky Sports both give 1:36.302. The official Formula1.com timesheet figure of 1:36.302 is used throughout this report. ⁵¹²

Penalties and midfield battles shape qualifying

GPblog reported that Hadjar carries a five-place grid penalty into qualifying, leaving greater emphasis on Verstappen to convert Red Bull's pace into a headline result. Sky Sports reported Alpine's Franco Colapinto, ninth in final practice, has a combined 15-grid place penalty for causing a collision last weekend in Baku and taking a new engine in Sepang. ³²

Sky Sports reported a tight midfield, with Gabriel Bortoleto 11th for Audi, Fernando Alonso 12th for Aston Martin after a strong weekend, Pierre Gasly 13th, Esteban Ocon 14th for Haas and Liam Lawson 15th for Racing Bulls, meaning at least four teams are in the battle for the final points-paying positions. GPblog noted Hamilton's session followed Friday's mirror-related impeding incident involving Gabriel Bortoleto, for which Ferrari received a fine and Hamilton a warning. ²³

Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Perez rounded out the timesheet in 21st and 22nd, with Sky Sports' classification listing them 3.629s and 3.921s respectively behind Antonelli's benchmark. ²

Weekend context: upgrades, Friday running and a re-arranged race

Sky Sports reported Mercedes have brought their biggest upgrade package since May's Canadian Grand Prix to Malaysia, but that Red Bull look set to be a threat again just as they were last time out in Baku. Formula1.com noted Mercedes described Friday as one of their 'toughest Fridays of the season', with the team enjoying a much stronger start to Saturday. ESPN reported Verstappen topped first practice from Russell, with Antonelli off the pace by over a second in the heavily-upgraded Mercedes in fifth. ²¹⁶

Sky Sports reported Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped second practice on Friday, but was seven tenths back in fifth in final practice. GPblog noted Leclerc had paced FP2 and that Verstappen topped FP1 but opted against a soft-tyre qualifying simulation in FP2, with his FP3 soft-tyre lap putting him second despite the session's red-flag interruption. ²³

Formula 1 is racing in Malaysia for the first time since 2017, with Sepang hosting the re-arranged Bahrain Grand Prix. Sky Sports reported the country stepped in to host for Bahrain after the original race was postponed earlier this year due to insecurity in the Persian Gulf, while the Independent attributed the re-arrangement to the conflict in the Middle East and ESPN said the race was cancelled in April due to the same conflict. ²⁴⁶

What happens next

Formula1.com reported qualifying is set to get underway at 1600 local time on Saturday. Sky Sports' UK broadcast schedule lists qualifying build-up from 8am with qualifying at 9am live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, and Sunday's race coverage from 6.30am with the Grand Prix at 8am UK time. The final practice order is a practice-session result, not qualifying or the race starting grid. ¹²

GPblog's championship standings list, updated at the time of the session, show Antonelli leading on 302 points from Russell on 236, Hamilton on 199, Norris on 186, Leclerc on 179, Verstappen on 163 and Piastri on 120, with Hadjar eighth on 86 points. ³