Red Bull’s Sergio Perez set the fastest time of Formula 1 pre-season testing ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
The Mexican was 0.359 seconds faster than Hamilton, despite using a harder and theoretically slower tyre. Champion Max Verstappen did not run on the final day.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was third, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth.
Leclerc said Red Bull were in a “very strong” position heading into the first race of the season next weekend.
“I feel we have some work to do,” Leclerc said. “Red Bull seem to be very strong in these three days.”
Verstappen said Red Bull’s test at Bahrain’s Sakhir track, which also hosts the opening race, had been “very good – the car is working really well”.
The Dutchman, who completed his mileage over the first two days of running in Bahrain, appeared to ooze confidence about the season ahead in an appearance in the official news conference in the middle of the final day.
Headline times from testing can be misleading, as engine modes, fuel loads and other technical factors can have a major effect on performance, and teams do not reveal the specification in which they run their cars.
But the widespread belief in F1 is that Red Bull head into the season as strong favourites, with Ferrari and Mercedes next in line.
Aston Martin, who finished seventh last season, are considered to have a made a step forward. And while Alpine, fourth in 2022, had a low-key test, they say they are confident they are where they expected to be, having set a goal this year to close on the top three teams. Technical director Matt Harman said they have a significant upgrade the car for the opening race next weekend.
McLaren, fifth last year, have admitted they will start the season on the back foot after missing their development targets. Their test has also been interrupted by reliability problems, focused on design elements around the front wheels, which they say will be fixed for the race.
Fastest times, day three, pre-season testing, Bahrain
1 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:30.305 ****
2 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:30.664 *****
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo 1:30.827 *****
4 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:31.024 seconds ****
5 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ferrari 1:31.036 ****
6 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Alpha Tauri 1:31.683 ****
7 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:31.381 ****
8 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 1:31.442 *****
9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:31.450 ****
10 Felipe Drugovich (Brz) Aston Martin 1:32.075 *****
11 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 1:32.691 ***
12 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:32.762 ***
13 Alex Albon (Tha) Williams 1:32.793 *****
14 Esteban Ocon (From) Alpine 1:33.257 ***
15 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas 1:33.329 ***
16 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:33.655 ***
17 Nyck de Vries (Ned) Alpha Tauri 1:38.244 ***
***** = C5, softest tyre; **** C4 tyre; *** = C3 tyre