F1 2023 practice results: FP3 timings and lap counts from the Bahrain Grand Prix

Thomas Maher
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on track during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sakhir, March 2023.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on track during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sakhir, March 2023.

Fernando Alonso kept up Aston Martin’s strong Friday form by topping the times in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Having finished Friday’s track running as the quickest man on track, Fernando Alonso picked up where he left off with an impressive showing in final practice.

With track conditions slower in the baking heat of the afternoon sun ahead of the twilight qualifying session, Alonso had topped the times with around 20 minutes remaining before being pipped by the two Mercedes and Red Bulls.

But Alonso responded in fine fashion on the soft compound Pirellis to pop in a 1:32.340 to pip Verstappen by just 0.005 seconds on the same compound.

Verstappen had the edge on Sergio Perez by just a tenth, with Lewis Hamilton claiming fourth place for Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc was fifth in the quickest Ferrari, while Lance Stroll underlined Aston Martin’s form by finishing sixth as the Canadian is still finding his feet with the AMR23 after missing last week’s three days of pre-season testing.

Here’s the full PlanetF1.com report on all the events of third practice from the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Full classification

1 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN 1:32.340 13 LAPS
2 Max Verstappen RED BULL +0.005 13 LAPS
3 Sergio Perez RED BULL +0.106 12 LAPS
4 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES +0.215 17 LAPS
5 Charles Leclerc FERRARI +0.284 21 LAPS
6 George Russell MERCEDES +0.391 17 LAPS
7 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN +0.579 16 LAPS
8 Carlos Sainz FERRARI +0.605 21 LAPS
9 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN +0.705 12 LAPS
10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE +0.724 13 LAPS
11 Esteban Ocon ALPINE +0.776 16 LAPS
12 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO +0.840 13 LAPS
13 Lando Norris MCLAREN +0.862 16 LAPS
14 Kevin Magnussen HAAS +1.041 21 LAPS
15 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS +1.083 23 LAPS
16 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI +1.135 15 LAPS
17 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO +1.289 14 LAPS
18 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS +1.325 15 LAPS
19 Alex Albon WILLIAMS +1.542 15 LAPS
20 Nyck De Vries ALPHATAURI +1.742 18 LAPS