2023 F1 Bahrain GP FP3: What did we learn as Fernando Alonso tops the timesheets?

A different session, the same old story, as Fernando Alonso once again topped a session in the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP. The Aston Martin driver is making a habit of spending a lot of time at the top of the timesheets and notching lap times that don't make much sense. Just like yesterday, Alonso was followed by the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

In what was a more positive session for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton finished the session in the top five alongside Charles Leclerc. So, after the third and final hour of practice before things get serious, what did we learn? Let's take a look.

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2023 F1 Bahrain GP FP3: Key Takeaways

#1 We have 8 cars within 6 tenths at the front

From Fernando Alonso in P1 to Carlos Sainz in P8, we have a gap of 0.605 seconds. There were ominous signs yesterday that Red Bull and Aston Martin might be a bit too far ahead of everyone else, including Mercedes and Ferrari. Well, those fears have been alleviated to a certain extent.

A safe guess would be that while Mercedes and Ferrari are probably not at the level of the top two teams, the gap might not be too big at the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP and it could be overhauled as the season progresses.

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#2 Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso battle for pole?

Fernando Alonso topped two of the first three sessions of the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP race weekend and to be fair, nobody would have seen this coming. The Aston Martin is quick, everyone knew that from testing but now we're getting the answer to the question, how quick? This car can fight for pole position and can fight for a win against Red Bull as well.

There's still a lot that needs to happen to reveal the true picture, but for now, Alonso appears to have hit the jackpot with his move to Aston Martin.

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#3 Oscar Piastri is already starting to impress

This is the first season of Oscar Piastri's career and the Australian is quietly starting to turn heads already. The headline time is a reliable way to judge a driver, but what is more reliable is the consistency that is on display most of the time.

Oscar Piastri's time at P7 answered two questions for McLaren. The first was that the car was not as bad as the team had feared. The second was that it made a lot of sense to poach Oscar Piastri from Alpine. The 2023 F1 Bahrain GP is still the first race of Piastri's career and it's hard to make major claims around him, but for now, it's safe to say that the new kid on the block is very impressive, to say the least.

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#4 The midfield is going to be a true test of driver skills

After the top four teams featuring Red Bull, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Mercedes at the Bahrain GP, it's very hard to pick a driver from Alpine, McLaren, Alpha Romeo, and Haas that would make Q3 for sure. Williams and AlphaTauri are probably a step behind the midfield at the moment but the other four teams are in for an intense battle.

During the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, it's all going to come down to the final laps that these drivers put together. The best lap will see the driver making it to Q3, anything falling short will mean a Q2 elimination.

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#5 There are still unanswered questions as we head to the first qualifying session

There are still quite a few unanswered questions as we head into the first qualifying session. There are still doubts over Ferrari's ultimate speed as it does seem that the team has still not shown its true hand. To add to this, Max Verstappen's run on the hard tire saw him put together a lap that was only half a second slower than Fernando Alonso's first time on the soft tire.

The field spread amongst the top four or even midfield is still not entirely clear as fuel loads are somewhat variable. Q1 and Q2 could prove to be the first true indicators of the gap between the fastest and the slowest car on the grid.