F1 Testing: George Russell fastest for Mercedes on final day in Bahrain as intrigue builds ahead of new season

George Russell pipped Red Bull rival Max Verstappen to the fastest time as Mercedes ended an intriguing yet inconclusive final day of F1 Testing on top.

On a Friday punctured by two bizarre red flags - the first for a shattered pane of glass from a gantry that fell onto the main straight and the second for the appearance of a circuit bus in a run-off area - Russell ended up ahead after a flurry of late fast laps in the day's floodlit closing hour, thanks to a best time of 1:29.545 - the third quickest of the test.

Verstappen's fastest effort, on the same C3 tyre compound, was a mere 0.021s slower as the world champion completed Red Bull's fastest laps of what at times had appeared a complicated test with the new RB21.

• Who went fastest and who did the most laps at 2025 F1 Testing?
• Got Sky? Watch F1 races LIVE on your phone! ?
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW ?

After sitting out Thursday's running, Verstappen spent the whole day in the car, racking up 81 laps, with Red Bull seemingly focusing on set-up experiments across short to mid-length runs rather than opting for a full race distance. They also brought a new RB21 nosecone design to the final day, while Verstappen had a late spin at Turn One.

"Red Bull is absolutely the question mark," said Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok ahead of the season-opening Australian GP on March 14-16.

Williams' Alex Albon followed up team-mate Carlos Sainz's test-best time from Thursday with the third-quickest Friday effort, finishing 0.1s back on Russell, albeit on the slightly quicker C4 tyre compared to those around him.

Having caught the eye with their long-run pace on Thursday, McLaren had a lower-key final day with neither Oscar Piastri nor Lando Norris again troubling the absolute top of the headline timesheet, although the former produced a late flier to go fourth with their best outright time of the week.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was fifth, meanwhile, at the end of a productive test for the Enstone team, a year on from their dismal start to the campaign when they propped up the pecking order.

Lewis Hamilton completed his on-track preparations for his first season as a Ferrari driver with the sixth-quickest time after running in the afternoon session for the first time.

However, the Briton's otherwise promising week appeared to end on a disrupted note as he completed only 47 laps and missed the session's closing stages with the SF-25 behind screens in the team garage.

Hamilton had said in the lunchtime news conference that he was due to perform his first race simulation since joining Ferrari, but ended up completing only a series of short stints before his slightly early finish. Team-mate Charles Leclerc was ninth but 0.5s slower after running in the hotter morning conditions.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 10th in the second Mercedes, ahead of title favourite Norris in 11th, after both also ran in the morning.

Who's really ahead heading to Australia?

After unseasonably chilly, and then wet, conditions affected the opening two days of running in Bahrain, conditions were certainly more typical for the Middle East for the final day.

Hotter track temperatures meant the pace of cars in the morning did not match the corresponding session from Thursday, but even as conditions cooled into the late afternoon lap times on either the short or heavier-fuel long runs did not quite reach the heights of the previous day.

Still, most observers in Bahrain seemed to believe that it was constructors' champions McLaren - who displayed impressive pace in the long runs with Norris on Thursday - who appeared to be the team to beat heading to the season-opening Australian GP.

"I think McLaren will be the happiest as it's a circuit they haven't been great at," said Chandhok.

"Admittedly, it is a colder run of days than we will have in the race but they have carried on how they ended last season."

As F1's teams start to now pour over reams of data from the three days of testing before shipping their cars to Melbourne next week, the questions about the early 2025 pecking order will only truly start to be answered when the challengers hit the track at Albert Park for the season-opening round on March 14-16 - live on Sky Sports F1.

Bahrain Testing: Day Three timesheet

1) George Russell, Mercedes, 1:29.545, 91 laps

2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:29.566, 81 laps

3) Alex Albon, Williams, 1:29.650, 137 laps

4) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:29.940, 85 laps

5) Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:30.040, 84 laps

6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:30.345, 47 laps

7) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:30.497, 87 laps

8) Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:30.728, 103 laps

9) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:30.811, 66 laps

10) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:30.888, 61 laps

11) Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:30.943, 57 laps

12) Jack Doohan, Alpine, 1:31.239, 61 laps

13) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:31.699, 34 laps

14) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:31.726, 69 laps

15) Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:31.761, 73 laps

16) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:32.084, 82 laps*

17) Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:32.147, 35 laps

18) Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:32.361, 59 laps

When is the first F1 race?

For the first time since 2019, the season-opener will be held in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. The first race has switched from Bahrain to Australia due to Ramadan taking place throughout March.

There are 24 events on the 2025 F1 calendar, the same number as last year, with the season ending at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 5-7.

Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime

(c) Sky Sports 2025: F1 Testing: George Russell fastest for Mercedes on final day in Bahrain as intrigue builds ahead of new season