F1 Testing: Leclerc sets early pace as Aston Martin and Red Bull run into trouble

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet as the F1 teams returned to Bahrain for the final pre-season outing, with the Ferrari driver three-tenths ahead of Lando Norris.

But it was anything but a successful start to the week for Aston Martin, who was sidelined with a Honda engine issue, and Red Bull, who reportedly had a water pressure problem.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leads final Bahrain testing session

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The final three days of pre-season testing began on Wednesday morning at the Bahrain International Circuit and the teams wasted no time diving into their programmes, all except Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, who didn’t put in a single lap in the opening hour.

Charles Leclerc set the early pace with a 1:33.739, putting him 0.7s up on Kimi Antonelli with Lando Norris P3.

Nico Hulkenberg had a moment in the pit lane as his car stalled during a practice start. The starts have emerged as one of the big topics in the pre-season with the drivers struggling to get their cars into ideal launch configuration now that they don’t have the MGU-H to manage the lower revs.

Cadillac told PlanetF1.com of its absence: “We’ve been working through a few sensor issues this morning and will be out shortly.”

Norris upped his pace to leapfrog Antonelli for second with Williams’ Alex Albon up to fourth. Perez ventured out just before the two-hour mark to put in a second lap but headed straight back into the Cadillac garage.

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Although this was the fourth day in Bahrain for the drivers, they were still having a difficult time with the rear end of the cars and the lack of downforce with Hulkenberg taking a trip through the Turn 4 gravel.

Lando Norris struggled in a few in-race scenarios, first following Esteban Ocon closely down the pit straight, then locking up heavily on his way into the pit lane at racing speed.

Fernando Alonso’s running was halted after just 28 laps with Aston Martin confirming there is a “PU related issue that we are checking now.”

There were also problems for Red Bull with a reported water system problem sidelining Isack Hadjar after 13 laps.

Heading into the final hour before the lunch break, Leclerc’s 1:33.769 stood as the time to beat.

A late VSC in the final ten minutes that was then noted as a red flag was nothing more than a systems check.

Leclerc finished the morning’s session up in P1 but only three-tenths ahead of Norris, who closed the gap, with Antonelli third.

Hadjar completed the fewest laps, just 13, while Alonso did not appear in the final hour due to Aston Martin’s PU problem.

Perez, the last driver out on track in the morning, completed X laps with a best time of 1:40.892, some seven seconds down on Leclerc’s P1 pace.

F1 Testing: Bahrain Day Four Morning Result

1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.739 70 laps
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:34.052 54 laps
3 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.158 69 laps
4 Alex Albon Williams 1:35.690 55 laps
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:35.898 61 laps
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:36.188 13 laps
7 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:36.418 65 laps
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:36.536 28 laps
9 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:36.741 49 laps
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:36.769 75 laps
11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1:38.191 24 laps

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