Antonelli finds his rhythm to top final Sepang practice

By Rohith Nair Championship leader Kimi Antonelli topped the final practice session for the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Saturday after the Mercedes driver finally found his rhythm at the Sepang International Circuit. The 20-year-old was only eighth fastest in Friday’s FP2 but improved to clock 1 minute 36.302 seconds on soft tyres. Red Bull’s four-times champion Max Verstappen, the last driver to win at Sepang in 2017, was second fastest, while his team mate Isack Hadjar was third, a little over half a second slower than Antonelli. Mercedes driver George Russell, who trails his teammate by 66 points in the standings, was fourth fastest, over six-tenths of a second slower, but ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. “It felt like a pretty decent lap considering the tyres were not great,” Hamilton said over the team radio. McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris, the only driver in the top 10 on medium tyres, was seventh fastest followed by his team mate Oscar Piastri. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10. The session was briefly red-flagged midway through to remove debris from the circuit after it got tangled in Haas driver Oliver Bearman’s front-right tyre, with the Briton asking his team on the radio if they knew what it was. Malaysia is hosting the Bahrain race due to the conflict in the Middle East.