Alex Peroni ended his pre-season testing in fine stead, scoring the fastest time overall in the final session of F3 pre-season testing at Bahrain. Kiwi Liam Lawson performed strongly throughout the morning session.
The Bahrain International Circuit was much clearer than the previous day – the cars returning to sunny, clear conditions as opposed to the windy, dusty conditions of yesterday. Jake Hughes was the first driver to set a representative time, with a 1:47.312 inside of the first 15 minutes. Behind him was Enzo Fittipaldi and Lawson.
Lawson was sent on another run and set a lap time that would put him to the top of the leaderboard. That was until former Red Bull junior Niko Kari posted a time just four-hundredths faster. Focus then shifted to long runs and race simulations, leaving Kari virtually unopposed for the remainder of the session. Lawson would remain in second for the morning, with Logan Sargeant in third, Dennis Hauger fourth and Hughes rounding out the top five.
The Carlin Buzz Racing trio of Clement Novalak, Cameron Das and Enaam Ahmed took the top three positions on the timing sheets at the start of the afternoon session.
Long runs and race simulations remained the focal point of the session, as preparations for the first race of the season took shape. The session was halted when the red flag was brought out after Calan Williams stopped out on track. When the session resumed, Kari worked his way into the top two.
With 45 minutes remaining, the pace started to pick up. PREMA Racing’s Frederik Vesti went to the top, ahead of David Schumacher and Hughes. With qualifying simulations now the focus, Jack Doohan, Hughes and Peroni all took turns at the top as the times began to creep closer toward 1m 46s.
By the time the chequered flag dropped, it was Peroni on top, with the Campos racer ahead of Hughes and Doohan. Sargeant and Richard Verschoor completed the top five.
With pre-season testing complete for F3, the focus now turns to the first round of the championship on March 20-22.
