Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez outpaced Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton as Formula 1 pre-season testing came to a close in Bahrain on Saturday.
The Mexican’s time of 1m30.305s was set on the soft tyre and was two tenths quicker than Charles Leclerc’s pole position time from last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Perez finished 0.359s clear of Hamilton, who briefly led after setting Mercedes’ best lap of testing on the soft tyre. It brought an encouraging end to testing for Mercedes following their day-two dramas, where George Russell suffered mechanical failure and Hamilton had balance issues after losing some body work.
Valtteri Bottas ended up third-quickest for Alfa Romeo after a mechanical issue forced him to stop on the track in the morning.
Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while Yuki Tsunoda was sixth for AlphaTauri, ahead of Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen (seventh) and Russell (eighth).
All the mileage and times from our final day of testing! 👀#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/kBiJqIkf6h
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 25, 2023
Aston Martin rounded off an impressive test, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Drugovich completing the top 10.
The 2023 season proper starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend.
