Antonelli finds his rhythm to top final Sepang practice

Pole sitter Kimi Antonelli secured victory in the concluding practice session for the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit on Saturday. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver had previously been eighth fastest during Friday's FP2 but managed to improve to a time of 1 minute 36.302 seconds using soft tyres.

Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen followed closely in second place, with his teammate Isack Hadjar rounding out the top three, nearly half a second behind Antonelli. George Russell, trailing by 66 points in the standings, claimed fourth place, slightly over half a second slower than Antonelli but ahead of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

"It felt like a pretty decent lap considering the tyres were not great," Hamilton radioed to his team. Reigning world champion Lando Norris, the only driver in the top 10 on medium tyres, secured seventh place followed by McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Alpine's Franco Colapinto and Racing Point's Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10.

Midway through the session, the track was briefly red-flagged to clear debris tangled in Haas driver Oliver Bearman's front-right tyre, with the British driver inquiring via radio whether his team knew what it was. The Bahrain race is taking place in Malaysia due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.