Sergio Perez ensured he was top of the times for the third session in a row after being quickest on the second morning of the final test.

With his morning time on Thursday having gone unbeaten throughout the day, Perez was quickly down to work on his final day in the car and set a time of 1:35.570, 0.3s off his best from yesterday.

However, it was much closer at the top as Fernando Alonso set a time just 0.064s shy of the Force India. It was a more productive morning for Ferrari as Alonso completed 45 laps to help the team recover from problems which limited Kimi Raikkonen’s running on day one.

Jenson Button was third quickest in the McLaren but caused one of two red flags when he stopped between turns 10 and 11. McLaren has said it is working on mileage and reliability on the opening two days before new parts arrive in Bahrain, but the stoppage prevented Button from completing more than 20 laps in the morning, with the team saying it is hopeful of finding the issue and getting back on track in the afternoon.

The other red flag was caused by Lewis Hamilton, who ran off-track out of Turn 3 and came to a stop just short of the tyre barrier. The car was not damaged, so he was able to quickly return to the track and proceeded to rack up 61 laps as he set the fourth fastest time.

Jules Bianchi was the man to split Hamilton and Button with a lap late in the morning for Marussia. It was an encouraging start for the team as Bianchi completed 33 laps following numerous setbacks during the second test last week.

Renault-powered cars continued to struggle for pace, filling four of the bottom five places in the standings. Red Bull was once again unable to complete significant mileage, with Daniel Ricciardo limited to just 15 laps having not completed an installation lap until 90 minutes in to the session.