Raikkonen heads final Bahrain F1 practice
Kimi Raikkonen closed out practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the fastest driver after leading FP3 on Saturday afternoon for Ferrari, while rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton had difficult sessions.
Picking up where he left off on Friday when he topped FP2, Raikkonen was able to turn in a fastest lap time of 1:29.868 to end the day half a second clear of the pack in final practice, being the only driver to dip below the 1:30s barrier.
Kimi Raikkonen closed out practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the fastest driver after leading FP3 on Saturday afternoon for Ferrari, while rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton had difficult sessions.
Picking up where he left off on Friday when he topped FP2, Raikkonen was able to turn in a fastest lap time of 1:29.868 to end the day half a second clear of the pack in final practice, being the only driver to dip below the 1:30s barrier.
Raikkonen was tailed by the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in second and third place respectively, with just 0.059s separating the teammates.
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton's difficult weekend continued as he finished eight-tenths of a second off Raikkonen in fourth place following a scruffy fastest lap that saw him run wide at the final corner.
Hamilton was reassured by the Mercedes pit wall that Raikkonen was running in a more powerful engine mode, but the result only added to the Briton's struggles after he was hit with a five-place grid penalty on Friday following a gearbox change.
Australian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel also had a tough session, with a loose bit of bodywork on the right sidepod of his car forcing Ferrari into repairs that cost the German tracktime. Vettel failed to get in a second qualifying simulation on the Supersoft tyre, leaving him fifth overall ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes.
Renault led the midfield runners with Nico Hulkenberg in seventh ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., while Toro Rosso continued its impressive start to the weekend with Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley in ninth and 11th respectively. McLaren's Fernando Alonso split the Honda-powered drivers in P10.
Romain Grosjean finished 12th for Haas, albeit after a nervous moment in the closing stages of the session as he bombed past three slow-moving cars down the straight to the final corner. Teammate Kevin Magnussen took 15th, while Force India drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez slotted inbeween in 13th and 14th.
Marcus Ericsson led Sauber's charge in 16th as teammate Charles Leclerc took P18. Stoffel Vandoorne wound up 17th in the second McLaren, while Williams drivers Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll propped up the running order, more than four-tenths of a second adrift of the pack.
