Yet to join the pack on the track are Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Lando Norris has gone fastest now on the medium tyres.

The McLaren driver has set a time of 1:37.161.

Oscar Piastri is a close second, three tenths behind Norris.

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Thundery showers and light winds are forecast for both Saturday's sessions, with temperatures reaching a high of 31C.

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The two McLarens are now out on the circuit and both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only two to have the yellow medium tyres bolted on.

Everyone else, apart from Charles Leclerc, has the red soft tyres on for the final practice session.

Sam Bird
Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

Charles Leclerc is out on track and he's the first driver we've seen on the hard compound this weekend.

The track is getting busy now with a flurry of drivers making their way out for final practice.

It doesn't take Charles Leclerc very long to top the leaderboard, he is on a lap time of 1:37.772.

Leclerc is also the only driver on the hard compound.

Max Verstappen is not in a rush to get into his Red Bull. He is having a look at the data and chats with his engineer.

Pierre Gasly has overtaken his team-mate for the fastest lap time, he is on 1:38.241.

Audi duo Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc have made their way out onto the circuit in Sepang.

Pierre Gasly and Arvid Lindblad have also joined their Alpine and Racing Bull team-mates.

Franco Colapinto is currently fastest in the Alpine. He has set a lap time of 1:39.417.

Max Verstappen won the last race in Malaysia in 2017, with Lewis Hamilton second and then team-mate Daniel Ricciardo third.

Can Verstappen get another race win in Malaysia, almost 10 years later?

Sam Bird
Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

Everybody needs to do some meaningful running in this session but my fear is we're not going to see a massive amount of track activity because of the amount of tryes they have remaining.

Everybody is going to need to keep new tyres, and I feel like they've might have used more sets than they would probably have wanted to throughout FP1 and FP2, such is the degradation coming from this track.

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It's been five minutes of the final session and about 19 drivers are yet to get out on track.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has an ice vest on and has a chat with his engineer in the Mercedes garage.

Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson have joined Perez out on track. All three cars have the red soft tyres bolted on.

Meanwhile, the majority of drivers are still in the garages.

Sam Bird
Former Formula E driver on 5 Sports Extra

Image source, Getty Images

It's close out there in terms of lap time but I just have this feeling that Max Verstappen could be the man to beat today and tomorrow.

He looked very strong yesterday in tricky conditions; this track was not giving the drivers an awful lot of grip, also the track temperatures and tyre degradation, but Verstappen was able to hold onto his car a little bit more.

Let's see how this pans out. It's going to be a fascinating FP3 and into qualifying.

Are we ready? Lights have gone green for the final practice session in Sepang.

Sergio Perez's Cadillac is the first car out on the circuit.

BBC Sounds

Harry Benjamin, Sam Bird and Andrew Benson are taking us through the entire Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia weekend.

To tune in to today's sessions, you can either click the listen live tab at the top of the page, search for Sports Extra on the BBC Sounds app if you need to head out and about or you can ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra".

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The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were initially scheduled for April but were called off in March as a result of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.

The arrangement to stage this race between Bahrain and Malaysia was heavily influenced by Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Despite being held in Malaysia, Bahrain have retained the naming rights for the event, which is officially known as the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Lots of Bahraini-related activities are being held at the track, while the trophy presented will be the Bahrain Grand Prix trophy and rosewater rather than champagne will be sprayed on the podium.

Leaders Mercedes are clear of second-placed Ferrari by 160 points in the constructors' standings, while reigning champions McLaren edge Red Bull in third and fourth by 72 points.

In the midfield, Arvid Lindblad's six points in Azerbaijan has given Racing Bulls a 15-point buffer over rivals Alpine, who had both drivers crash out last weekend, in the battle for fifth place.

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell's victory in Baku last time out has moved him to within 66 points of Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli in this season's title fight, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton third and reigning world champion Lando Norris still fourth despite leaving Azerbaijan empty handed.

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Hello! Welcome to Saturday at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Gold star for you if you're joining us very early for the start of today's coverage.

Final practice begins at 05:30 BST.

Lights go green for Q1 at 09:00 BST.