Verstappen fastest in final practice

Manama, April 15

Red Bull's Max Verstappen pushed Formula One frontrunners Ferrari and Mercedes off the top of the timesheets in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Dutch driver lapped the Sakhir circuit with a best time of one minute 32.194 seconds, 0.110 quicker than Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton who will be chasing a seventh successive pole position in later qualifying. 

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the four-times world champion who was fastest on Friday, is tied with Hamilton at the top of the standings on 43 points after two races. The German was third in an afternoon session that cooled to around 36 degrees Celsius, with most drivers waiting before getting down to serious work. Valtteri Bottas was fourth for Mercedes, ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Verstappen set his time late in the session on supersoft tyres. 

French driver Romain Grosjean sent his Haas spinning into the barriers after losing control at Turn Four, damaging the car's nose and briefly bringing out the red flags. — Reuters