Red Bull and Ferrari have appeared a step ahead of Mercedes throughout pre-season, but the Silver Arrows were able to close the gap in the final practice session before the season gets under way; watch qualifying live on Sky Sports F1 from 2pm
Saturday 19 March 2022 14:10, UK
Max Verstappen continued to set the pace in the final practice session ahead of the opening Grand Prix of the season, but there was encouragement for Mercedes as they closed the gap on Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of qualifying in Bahrain.
World champion Verstappen delivered a 1:32.544 to once more finish ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, but Mercedes' improvement was notable as the 'big three' teams locked out the front six places, with under 0.6s covering all of them.
The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez was third, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and sixth respectively for Mercedes, separated by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
For several reasons, including the day-time conditions - the timings from Practice 3 may not be fully representative of what can be expected during the night-time qualifying later on Saturday, but the teams appeared to come the closest they have to running realistic simulations in their all-new cars for the 2022 season.
Mercedes have trailed Red Bull and Ferrari throughout the pre-season, with seven-time world champion Hamilton insisting on Friday evening his team have "big problems" for which there is no "short-term" fix, but their performance undoubtedly represented an improvement.
The 'porpoising' problems that have plagued them throughout the pre-season, which cause the car to bounce severely in high-speed parts of the track, appeared to be at least partially overcome, with Hamilton's suffering of the issue reduced despite the car running low to the ground.
"This is far and away the best we've seen the Mercedes," Sky Sports F1 Martin Brundle said after Hamilton's best effort. "That was a big step forward."
However, it remains to be seen how much of their potential Red Bull and Ferrari have unleashed, with Verstappen and Leclerc still comfortably bettering Mercedes, who still appear to have a less settled setup than their rivals.
Despite performing his team-mate Sainz by more than 0.4s, Leclerc did have a moment of jeopardy as he spun his Ferrari at Turn 11, narrowly avoiding what could have been a costly collision with the wall.
There was further cause for concern for McLaren as Lando Norris finished 11th and Daniel Ricciardo 15th, with the team appearing to have failed to overcome brake issues that surfaced during pre-season testing at the same track last week.
Somewhat surprisingly above Norris was the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and both Alfa Romeos, with both teams showing the potential to exceed expectations early in the season. Lance Stroll was 10th for Aston Martin, with Nico Hulkenberg - standing in for Sebastian Vettel, who has Covid-19 - 12th
After topping the timesheets in P1 through Pierre Gasly on Friday, AlphaTauri endured a contrasting start to Saturday as Yuki Tsunoda was unable to make it out on track due to a hydraulics issue, while Gasly could only manage 13th.
There was a concerning performance for Alpine, as Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon shared the final four places (excluding Tsunoda) with the two Williams of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
Saturday, March 19
2pm: Bahrain GP Qualifying Build-up
3pm BAHRAIN GP QUALIFYING
4.35pm: F2 Sprint Race
5.35pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, March 20
8.55am: F3 Feature Race
10.35am: F2 Feature Race
1.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Bahrain
3pm: THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
5pm: Chequered Flag: Bahrain
6pm: Ted's Notebook
7pm: Bahrain GP Highlights
Many of our shows will also be simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Mix.
Saturday's qualifying will be on the channel from 2.45pm, as well as the F2 Sprint Race (4.35pm) and Ted's Qualifying Notebook (5.35pm).
