Leclerc tops final morning as Ferrari, Mercedes unleash pace

Leclerc and George Russell strapped on soft tyres and traded fastest laps during the penultimate session of testing, with the Ferrari driver ultimately taking the morning honours with a 1m31.024s. 

Leclerc set the fastest lap of the week so far on C4 tyres, while Russell produced Mercedes’ best time on the C5 compound as the eight-time constructors’ champions bounced back from their day two dramas which included an on-track stoppage due to a hydraulic failure. 

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The brief flurry of performance running was a taste of what is expected to come later when teams use more representative track conditions to carry out some qualifying simulations ahead of next weekend’s season opener. 

Felipe Drugovich finished a second off the pace in third on his return to action for Aston Martin, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Alex Albon’s Williams and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg. 

McLaren’s troubles showed little sign of stopping as work continued to strengthen the car’s front winglets, restricting F1 rookie Oscar Piastri to the garage for large spells. 

The Australian completed 44 laps - the lowest mileage of the session - and became the first driver to suffer a spin in the three days of running. 

Aside from a brief red flag stoppage to remove a sensor that fell off Perez’s car, the only other interruption of the morning came when Valtteri Bottas ground to a halt with a suspected gearbox issue on his Alfa Romeo.

The Finn ended up ninth-quickest ahead of Nyck de Vries, who rounded out the order for AlphaTauri. 

All teams barring Red Bull, Alfa Romeo and Williams will swap their drivers in the lunch break before the final session of testing commences.