Bahrain F1 GP in Malaysia: Kimi Antonelli recovers from a difficult Friday to finish on top of FP3

October 3, 2026 8 Min Read

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Kimi Antonelli dominated final practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to bounce back from a disappointing Friday for the championship-leading Mercedes team.

The Silver Arrows brought a heavily improved W17 to Sepang, but only managed second and fifth in FP1 and seventh and eighth in FP2, with the other teams looking stronger.

But the dominant 2026 team responded perfectly on Saturday with Antonelli fastest in 1m36.302s, two tenths faster than Max Verstappen who set the pace in the first practice.

It comes on the weekend Sepang returns to F1 for the first time since 2017, which was the final race of an 18-year stay where mixed weather conditions were characteristic.

Yet F1 is still waiting to see this on the Malaysian track in 2026, as FP3, like FP1 and 2, was dry throughout, but had the first run of the expected primary racing tire, the hard.

Indeed, tire degradation played a huge role during Friday’s testing on a hot, low-grip surface and Charles Leclerc set a time of 1’37”772 on the white-striped tires early on.

This places the Ferrari driver in third position, 0.611s and 0.289s respectively behind McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who used the mids with all three compounds presented.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images

The softs were used by those from midfield down, meaning Leclerc was still the only driver with the hards, but he was to be joined by George Russell until the 25th minute red flag.

This happened after debris flew from Oliver Bearman’s Haas at Turn 10 and when the session resumed eight minutes later, with several drivers yet to set times, more soft tires began to roll.

Championship leader Antonelli moved to the top with his first push lap, in 1’36”924, giving him an advantage of 0”129 over his teammate Russell, in second.

Leclerc then separated the pair with a time of 1m37.016 to start the final six-minute race, with Isack Hadjar taking the lead moments later with a time of 1m36.860 aboard his highly competitive Red Bull.

His lead only lasted a short time as, just after Russell improved to 1m36.912s, Antonelli once again displayed his dominance by setting a time of 1m36.302s.

This put the 20-year-old five tenths above Hadjar and the two drivers were quickly separated by the Frenchman’s teammate Verstappen, who clocked 1’36”580 at the end of qualifying.

As a result, Red Bull placed both their cars in the top three for the second time this weekend after FP1, while Russell took fourth for Mercedes with Leclerc fifth, 0.714 seconds behind Antonelli.

His Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished sixth with a time of 1’37”041 ahead of Norris, seventh, whose best time (1’37”161) was achieved in mediums with his teammate Piastri eighth.

The Australian clocked a time of 1’37”366, putting him 1’064” behind Antonelli, continuing McLaren’s struggles at Sepang after finishing 11th and 12th in opening practice.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad meanwhile rounded out the top 10 in FP3 and were 1.618 and 1.782 seconds off the pace respectively.