Results: these are the final rankings after the third free practice in Bahrain

With the third free practice session in Sakhir now over, the excitement at the Bahrain International Circuit is about to get underway. As the qualifying session will only give us a clearer idea of the balance of power between the teams this season, until then we have to make do with the ranking of the free practice sessions, which can be found below.

Max Verstappen was the racer to beat on Friday. Twice he recorded the fastest time of the session, proving that Red Bull have brought a worthy challenger to the grid with the RBR16B. The Dutchman completed today's clean sweep by setting the fastest time in the final session as well.

Mercedes also seemed to have regained at least part of its top form today. Towards the end of practice, the silver arrows were briefly at their familiar 1-2. However, this was soon over when Verstappen took to the track on the soft compound.

Surprises

We also find a few surprises in the top 10. Pierre Gasly shone today in the AlphaTauri; the Frenchman set the third fastest time and sits between the two Mercedes drivers.

Top ten after FP3

1. Verstappen. 1:30:577

2. Hamilton. 1:31:316

3. Gasly. 1:31:583

4. Bottas. 1:31:885.

5. Perez. 1:31:908

6. Sainz. 1:32:108

7. Raikkonen. 1:32:224

8. Ocon. 1:32:423

9. Stroll. 1:32:431

10. Ricciardo. 1:32:447