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Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, hosted at Malaysia's Sepang circuit.
During the final hour of preparation outside Kuala Lumpur, the Mercedes driver clocked a lap of 1:36.302 to finish 0.278 seconds clear of Max Verstappen. Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar completed the top three, 0.558 seconds adrift. George Russell settled for fourth, trailing his Mercedes teammate Antonelli by a significant 0.610 seconds despite both setting their flying laps under identical track conditions.
Charles Leclerc, who set the benchmark in Friday's second practice, finished fifth, 0.714 seconds off the pace, with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton just 0.025 seconds behind the Monegasque driver. McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad, who rounded out the top ten in FP3.
The session was briefly red-flagged just before the halfway mark after debris was spotted on the racing line at the exit of Turn 9. The fragments came from the front-right corner of Oliver Bearman's car, although the exact component remained unclear as it was not from the tire and Haas's team radio communication remained encrypted.
Action at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Round 16 of the 2026 Formula 1 season, continues with qualifying at Sepang.
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