Antonelli finds his rhythm to top final Sepang practice

Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit hosted the final Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix practice session on Saturday, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli emerging as the fastest driver in the session. Just a day after finishing eighth in Friday's FP2, the 20-year-old Mercedes driver clocked 1 minute 36.302 seconds on soft tyres, marking significant improvement.

Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen came in second, while his teammate Isaac Hadjar was third, about half a second slower than Antonelli. Mercedes teammate George Russell, currently trailing by 66 points in the standings, secured fourth place, over six-tenths of a second behind Antonelli but ahead of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris and his team mate Oscar Piastri completed the top 10 on medium tyres. The session was briefly halted due to debris from Haas driver Oliver Bearman's front-right tyre, which had become entangled in the circuit. The race in Malaysia was moved to accommodate conflict in the Middle East.