Mercedes driver Russell is fastest on final day of F1 preseason testing

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — George Russell posted the fastest time on the final day of Formula 1 preseason testing Friday after the afternoon session was briefly interrupted when a shuttle bus drove on the track. The Mercedes driver ended F1's three days of testing by beating Max Verstappen, who was 0.021 of a second off the pace at Bahrain International Circuit. In a bizarre scene early in the afternoon session, testing was halted when a white bus drove slowly on a runoff area of the track. It wasn't the only oddity of the day. In the morning session, there was a brief red flag after a pane of glass fell from the starter's box and shattered on the edge of the track. Workers quickly swept up the shards. On Wednesday, the afternoon session was suspended for just over an hour when an electrical failure plunged pit lane garages into darkness and disabled floodlights around the track. Red Bull's Verstappen and Williams' Alex Albon drove in both sessions Friday, and Albon was third fastest on the day, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Alpine's Pierre Gasly. Lewis Hamilton was sixth for Ferrari, 0.800 behind his former Mercedes teammate. Hamilton's new teammate, Charles Leclerc, led the morning session and was ninth fastest on the day. Hamilton, the seven-time champion who joined Ferrari this year, downplayed results from testing, when teams experiment with fuel loads and tires. "I've learned that you really can't judge too much from the first outlook," the 40-year-old Hamilton said. "I definitely think in past years, particularly in the previous generation of car, it was much easier to know where you stood quite early on. "But," he continued, "I would say this is the most positive feeling that I've had in a long time. That's all I can really say for now." The first race of the season is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing