Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Antonelli sets FP3 pace as Red Bull looms

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in his upgraded Mercedes, as practice came to a close at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Max Verstappen kept his name in the conversation, while Isack Hadjar continued his impressive comeback by ensuring both Red Bulls ended FP3 in the top three.

Kimi Antonelli sets FP3 pace at Sepang

Sergio Perez was the first to emerge from the garage in his Cadillac, kick-starting the FP3 action after a day of learning Sepang in F1 2026 on Friday.

The track surface, which has not been fully replaced since the sport’s last race here in 2017, proved a major Friday talking point, as drivers continued familiarising themselves ahead of qualifying.

The early pace was set by the Alpines, armed with soft tyres. A 1:38.2 from Pierre Gasly put him at the head of this one-two, Franco Colapinto second.

Charles Leclerc had gone out with a set of hard tyres bolted on to his Ferrari. He still went fastest by almost half a second with the first push lap.

Lando Norris ventured out on the yellow-walled mediums. He found six tenths on Leclerc. Oscar Piastri, also on mediums, slotted into P2 in the sister McLaren.

In general, Sepang has and will be brutal on tyres throughout the race weekend, sparking unknown, and intrigue, over which strategy will present the fastest route from lights to chequered flag.

We also saw the continuation of drivers crawling around their cool laps, protecting their rubber such are the track temperatures and abrasion.

The session was red flagged with a little over half an hour left on the clock. A piece of debris had appeared on the Turn 10 apex. It was discarded by the front-right tyre of Oliver Bearman’s Haas.

Back to green with 33 minutes still to go.

For the first time, Mercedes was coming out to play in FP3, with softs. Verstappen had the mediums on.

A 1:36.9 sent Antonelli top. Russell went second, just over a tenth down. P4 for Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton gave Arvid Lindblad the hand of frustration, feeling impeded by the Racing Bulls rookie through the opening sequence of corners.

Isack Hadjar was struggling with an “unpredictable” Red Bull rear in Turns 1 and 9.

Hamilton went again, slipping and sliding his struggling softs to a P9 time, with 20 minutes to go in the session.

Latest Bahrain GP in Malaysia talking points on PlanetF1.com

Hidden Bahrain Grand Prix hazard as Charles Leclerc leads Sepang complaints

Verstappen in the fight? More to come from Mercedes? What the data tells us about Friday in Sepang

Norris had moved onto the softs for his final run. He failed to improve his time on lap one.

Piastri did find time on the switch to softs, but had more than four tenths to find on P1 Antonelli.

Lance Stroll, with a little over 10 minutes left in FP3, joined the action for the first time, soft tyres on his Aston Martin.

Softs for Leclerc now too. P2, within a tenth of Antonelli and splitting the Mercedes.

Hadjar popped up to P1 by six hundredths, Russell unable to topple that. Antonelli did, and then some, by half a second on new softs.

Verstappen improved to second, 0.278s down on Antonelli’s impressive 1:36.302.

Lawson suffered a big snap through Turn 11, his softs failing to hold on.

Antonelli, Verstappen and Hadjar was the top three as FP3 reached its conclusion.

Verstappen received a late black and white flag for failing to follow race director’s instructions at the relocated bollard near pit entry.

Next up, qualifying.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Full FP3 results – Bahrain GP in Malaysia 2026 – Practice 3 F1 results (Sepang)