Sawt Falasteen - Double-shift Sainz tops Bahrain F1 testing times

Sainz clocked 1min 29.348sec for the quickest lap on the middle day of three as the grid continued its preparations for the March 16 season-opener in Australia

Lewis Hamilton, whose stunning move to Ferrari set in motion Sainz's arrival at the British team, looked in good shape again with the seven-time world champion only 0.031sec off the pace.

In a sign that Sainz's old team appear ready to hit the ground running in Melbourne, Charles Leclerc hauled the other Ferrari into third at 0.083sec.

Hamilton cut a contented figure at a press conference after his stint, the ex-Mercedes man looking relaxed in red.

"I am really enjoying the car. We're slowly bonding," said the 40-year-old.

"Bit by bit, I'm just eking out a little bit more each time. All the settings are so different" (from the Mercedes he had driven since 2013) Hamilton added.

"It's not necessarily unlearning what I did before, but kind of relearning this new way of working and the way the car likes to be driven, as it likes to be driven differently. That's a really fun journey, learning that."

Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli came next on the timesheets ahead of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin and the Red Bull of Liam Lawson with that team's four-time world champion Max Verstappen given the day off.

- 'Respect each other' -

One driver hoping to deny the Dutchman a fifth successive crown is McLaren's Lando Norris.

Last year's championship runner-up, over a second and a half behind Sainz on Thursday, said he had no beef with Verstappen after a series of clashes between the pair last season.

"I know they're going to be tough battles and I'm sure some of them are not always going to end the way I want or hopefully Max wants. But we're racing drivers, I think we get along," the Briton told a press conference.

"We respect each other a lot and we look forward to more racing on track."

Norris was satisfied with his team's showing ahead of Friday's last day of fine-tuning.

"The car was feeling like last year, which is a good start," he told Sky Sports.

"We've had our fair share of issues in the past coming to Bahrain, not starting off on the right foot, but things just feel normal, which is a good start.

"A lot of stuff has changed on the car, so for us to just go out and check everything, is a good start to the test. It really doesn't matter if you're first or last on day one, that only matters in Australia.

"You never know what fuel loads people are running, engine modes and things like that. For us, it's just checking things and ticking some boxes. The last thing you want is to get to Australia and have some surprises. All good so far."

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST