Fernando Alonso Leads The Way After Final Practice At Bahrain

Fernando Alonso has ended the final practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix fastest overall, ahead of the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Both Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus look exceptionally quick this weekend, and any one of the six drivers is more than capable is reaping the rewards come qualifying and the race.

After yesterday’s mixed conditions at the Bahrain International Circuit, the third and final practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix began in overcast weather conditions as the Marussia of Max Chilton and the Force India of Adrian Sutil became the first drivers to take to the track. As the various drivers completed their installation laps, Felipe Massa was informed that the GPS on his Ferrari was not working.

Despite many drivers completing the traditional installation laps at the beginning of the session, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez continued to complete the first timed lap of the session with a 01:42.573. The Mexican driver, who will incur a five-place grid penalty following on from his incident with Adrian Sutil last time out, proceeded to improve upon his time at the top with a 01:39.592. Eventually further drivers opted to return to the Bahrain International Circuit, as the Caterham duo of Giedo van der Garde and then Charles Pic rose to the top. The latter managed to improve upon his time over his team-mate, with Pic setting a 01:35.911.

As the final practice session wore on, more drivers began taking to the 5.412km circuit in a bid to finalize their preparations ahead of qualifying later in the day. Mark Webber managed to rise to the top for Red Bull with a 01:33.875, as Kimi Raikkonen slotted into 2nd position behind the Australian driver. After out-braking himself into Turn 1, Romain Grosjean began to shine in his Lotus as the Frenchman seemed to finally rediscover his form of last season as he stormed to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:33.762.

The former GP2 Champion continued to improve at the top of the timing sheets, in a weekend which could prove imperative for him to display decent pace in comparison to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who has already secured a race victory this season. However, Grosjean’s reign at the top failed to last for long as the reigning World Champion of Sebastian Vettel finally asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:33.348 for Red Bull. The German driver won last season’s Bahrain Grand Prix, and will unquestionably be striving to do so again this season.

Fernando Alonso suffered a scare as the final practice session neared its conclusion, as the two-time Champion lost control of his Ferrari through Turn 2 and spun into the retaining gravel trap. Initially it seemed as though the Spaniard had beached his Ferrari, however he soon managed to return to the track and eventually to the pits. Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Esteban Gutierrez became the first drivers to opt for Pirelli’s medium tyre compound as the session wore on, before Fernando Alonso did likewise and stormed to the top with a 01:33.247.

Max Chilton’s morning preparations were brought to a premature conclusion, as the Briton’s MR-02 machine suffered a KERS cooling issue. Fernando Alonso’s benchmark at the front remained unbeaten as the checkered flag emerged signaling the end of the session, with Sebastian Vettel running exceedingly wide at Turn 13 after bumping along the kerbs. Lewis Hamilton also had an eventful end to the final practice session, after his left-rear suspension collapsed on his in-lap. Luckily the Briton was able to maintain control his car, however his mechanics will now begin working upon the car to prepare it for qualifying.

Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull still look like the most likely teams to secure pole later today, with Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel the three drivers in particular who look to be at one with their respective machines. However, qualifying can always spark surprises, especially with the current Pirelli tyres.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m33.247s            12
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m33.348s  + 0.101s  15
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m33.380s  + 0.133s  19
 4.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m33.446s  + 0.199s  21
 5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m33.455s  + 0.208s  19
 6.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m33.464s  + 0.217s  19
 7.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m33.596s  + 0.349s  17
 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m33.700s  + 0.453s  15
 9.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m33.764s  + 0.517s  19
10.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.922s  + 0.675s  17
11.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m33.949s  + 0.702s  20
12.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.117s  + 0.870s  17
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.282s  + 1.035s  18
14.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.577s  + 1.330s  16
15.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m34.611s  + 1.364s  17
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.678s  + 1.431s  16
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m34.833s  + 1.586s  17
18.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m35.816s  + 2.569s  16
19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.731s  + 3.484s  17
20.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m36.939s  + 3.692s  16
21.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.630s  + 4.383s  7
22.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.592s  + 6.345s  28

Picture Copyright © Getty Images