Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and the McLaren of Jenson Button dominated the third day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday as Red Bull struggled again.
Hamilton, who had sat out Thursday’s session, posted a time of 1min 34.263sec on soft tyres in the morning and that remained the day’s benchmark after the second run out in the afternoon.
For world champions Red Bull, who endured a tough test in Jerez last month but appeared in better shape here on Thursday, there was more frustration when they had to suspend testing in the afternoon. Sebastian Vettel’s new teammate Daniel Ricciardo completed 28 laps but then a mechanical problem to his car’s Renault engine brought a premature end to the day.
