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View MoreVerstappen maintains impressive form, sets F1 third practice pace in Bahrain GP 2022 at BIC
Verstappen maintains impressive form, sets F1 third practice pace in Bahrain GP 2022 at BIC
- Hadjar inherits victory in season-opening F3 Sprint Race
- Algosaibi grabs double pole for Porsche Sprint Challenge races
Max Verstappen continued Red Bull Racing’s impressive early-season form today as he topped the third practice timesheet in the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2022 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The reigning drivers’ world champion registered a fastest lap of one minute 32.544 seconds in the hour-long afternoon session, held along BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track.
The crowds continued to flock to BIC on Saturday at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” following the biggest Friday attendance ever for the Kingdom’s race weekend. Fans enjoyed another full day of top-class racing and family entertainment.
The fans also got to take part in the F1 Autograph Session, where they met some of the top flight’s biggest stars.
This weekend’s events wrap up Sunday with the 57-lap night race, scheduled for a 6pm start.
Gates will open from 10am and the on-track action will be kicking off in the support series from 11.45am.
Verstappen picked up from where he left off the previous evening at BIC in leading the 20-car F1 field. He completed 20 laps of work.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was once again Verstappen’s closest challenger after coming 0.096 seconds from matching his pace. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull car was classified third 0.247s slower.
George Russell (+0.391s) was fourth for reigning constructors’ world champions Mercedes, while Carlos Sainz (+0.509s) in the second Ferrari was fifth and Lewis Hamilton (+0.577s) sixth in the other Mercedes car.
Completing the top 10 were Kevin Magnussen (+0.893s) of Haas, Valtteri Bottas (+1.189s) and Guanyu Zhou (+1.336s) for Alfa Romeo, and Lance Stroll (+1.376s) of Aston Martin.
Classified 11th to 20th, respectively, were Lando Norris of McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg of Aston Martin, Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri, Mick Schumacher of Haas, Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren, Fernando Alonso of Alpine, Alexander Albon of Williams, Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Nicholas Latifi of Williams and Yuki Tsuonda of AlphaTauri.
The F1 field will now be heading for qualifying later Saturday evening starting at 6pm.
Hadjar inherits win in season-opening F3 Sprint Race
Isack Hadjar inherited the victory in the season-opening Sprint Race of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship this afternoon, held as part of the weekend’s events in the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Oliver Bearman of Prema Racing crossed the finish line in first, but was then given a five-second penalty for track limits, dropping him to the runner-up spot on the final classification.
Hadjar was promoted as the winner on his debut race in F3. The Hitech Grand Prix ace had a winning time of 37:30.285.
Bearman had to settle for second place 1.589 seconds behind, while Alexander Smolyar of MP Motorsport took the final podium place in third after finishing 3.593s from Hadjar
Finishing the Sprint fourth through eighth were Zane Maloney of Trident, Arthur Leclerc of Prema, pole-sitter Zak O’Sullivan of Carlin, Caio Collet of MP Motorsport and Kaylen Frederick of Hitech Grand Prix.
The F3 field is now set for its first Feature Race of the season, set to be held on Sunday starting at 11.45am. Franco Colapinto of Van Amersfoort Racing will be in the leading grid position.
Algosaibi grabs double pole for Porsche Sprint Challenge races
Fahad Algosaibi of Saudi Arabia captured pole position today for both of this weekend’s races in the final round of the 2021/2022 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Algosaibi clocked a fastest lap of 2:02.095 to top the qualifying timesheet and gain the leading position for the meeting’s opening 11-lap race, which is scheduled for today afternoon starting at 4.30pm.
He then posted his second-best time of 2:02.209 to clinch pole for race two, to be held on Sunday at 3.10pm.
Daan Van Kuijk from the Netherlands finished qualifying in second with a best lap of 2:02.174 to secure the other front row grid position for the first race. Algosaibi’s countryman Bandar Alesayi was third in 2:02.187.
Set to start behind them in the top eight are Thierry Vermeulen and Morris Schuring, both from the Netherlands, Germany’s Richard Wagner, James Dorlin from Great Britain and Bahrain’s very own Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.
In race two, alongside Algosaibi will be Alesayi for an all-Saudi front row. Alesayi had a best second lap of 2:02.408.
Schuring qualified third with a time of 2:02.629 for his second-best lap. Vermeulen will be in fourth, while the top eight will be completed by Dorlin, Wagner, Van Kuijk and Shaikh Ali.
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