F1 testing, day three am: Sergio Pérez on top as Red Bull makes his move, while Ferrari shows 2021 pace

Sergio Pérez 0.3 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc as Red Bull ups the ante on F1 Testing; Lando Norris third for McLaren; Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, both in action in the afternoon session, with four hours remaining until the 2021 preseason

Red Bull upped the ante on the final morning of F1 testing in Bahrain, as new signing Sergio Perez posted the best time of 2021 so far to set the pace ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Perez had adjusted to life at Red Bull heading into the third and final day of preseason, but showed a glimpse of his potential and that of his RB16B in Sunday’s busy and surprisingly fast opening session.

The Mexican driver posted a 1: 30.187 on soft tires, which was a tenth of a second faster than Valtteri Bottas’ previous best tests in the Mercedes, in the generally faster conditions of the night in Bahrain.

The Red Bull scoreboard before lunch whets the appetite perfectly for the final four hours of testing, when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be in action and when the pace is expected to pick up even more.

3:33

Sky F1’s Karun Chandhok believes Mercedes is looking back at its formidable prime, with Valtteri Bottas unlocking the potential of the W12 on the final day of testing.

Mercedes opted to focus on longer races Sunday morning, with Bottas completing 84 laps but finishing more than two seconds behind the pace in seventh.

Instead, fighting up front was Ferrari, which ended its slow start to F1 2021 immediately on Sunday when Leclerc set a 1: 31.4 on one of its opening laps of the day. The lap, impressively posted on medium tires, would not be improved by the Ferrari driver afterwards.

McLaren, which seems increasingly confident in its 2021 chances and has an innovative diffuser design on its new Mercedes-powered car, continued its strong testing program as Lando Norris finished the opening session in third place, 0.474 seconds away. de Pérez, while AlphaTauri also continued to impress. .

1:56

The talk and possibly the envy of the paddock this year is McLaren’s rear diffuser, an interpretation that stems from the revised design rules at the rear of the car.

Pierre Gasly was the only other driver within a second of Red Bull.

Kimi Raikkonen topped the mileage charts in the morning with 91 laps in his Alfa Romeo, while Lance Stroll also focused solely on long races in the Aston Martin.

F1 2021 rookie Mick Schumacher was sixth in his Haas.

Morning times sheet of the third day
1. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull, 1: 30.187, 49 laps, soft tires (C4)
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.299, 80 laps, medium tires (C3)
3. Lando Norris, McLaren, +0.474, 56 laps, medium tires (C3)
4. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, +0.641, 76 laps, soft tires (C4)
5. Esteban Ocon, Alpine, +1,123, 61 laps, medium tires (C3)
6. Mick Schumacher, Haas, +1.866, 78 laps, medium tires (C3)
7. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, +2,219, 86 laps, medium tires (C3)
8. George Russell, Williams, +2,544, 77 laps, hard tires (C2)
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, +5.087, 91 laps, hard tires (C2)
10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +5.913, 80 laps, medium tires (C3)