F1 LIVE | Mercedes smashes 'benchmark' times, and what's going wrong for Aston Martin

After a week-long break, Formula 1 is set to return to the track for what promises to be a highly anticipated final test session, marking the last opportunity for teams to run their cars before the season-opening race in Melbourne. The venue remains unchanged, with teams back in Sakhir after logging significant mileage there last week.

Mercedes stole the spotlight thanks to the outright fastest lap on day three, set by Kimi Antonelli. That said, fellow frontrunners Ferrari and Red Bull also impressed, both showing strong power unit reliability, even if question marks remain over their one-lap pace. Last week also featured the first race simulations, offering an early glimpse of how the new cars behave over long runs. Hopes are now high that the final three days of testing could deliver a few more surprises, particularly in qualifying trim, with teams having so far kept their true potential firmly under wraps.

The schedule will remain unchanged for the final three days as well, with teams running for eight hours per day and 24 hours in total. Track action will begin at 08:00 CET (07:00 UK time) and run until 12:00, followed by a one-hour lunch break. Running will then resume at 13:00 CET (12:00 UK) for the final four-hour session, with the chequered flag falling at 17:00 CET (16:00 UK). GPblog will provide live coverage throughout the entire test, delivering minute-by-minute updates. This time, teams and fans alike will also benefit from the full return of the live broadcast, which had only been partially available during the previous test and was completely absent during the Barcelona shakedown week.