Heading into the first Free Practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit, there was a number of drivers who were doing free practice sessions in place of regular drivers.
Replacement drivers
Ryo Hirakawa, who had impressed in his practice run in Japan for Alpine, was in at Haas for Oliver Bearman. F2 and Ferrari Driver Academy talent Dino Beganovic filled in for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, making his practice debut. The 2023 F2 runner-up Frederik Vesti drove instead of George Russell at Mercedes.
The 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich was driving in his sixth practice session for Aston Martin over Fernando Alonso. Williams youngster and F2 podium finisher Luke Browning made his second practice session appearance in place of Carlos Sainz.
Finally, Max Verstappen got to sit out FP1, as Ayumu Iwasa, an F2 race winner in 2022 and 2023, took over Red Bull’s RB21, which won the last round in Iwasa’s home country of Japan. This meant Red Bull had an all-Japanese driver lineup.
The main reason why so many drivers are filling in here is because pre-season testing was done in Bahrain. As a result, most drivers have a strong base knowledge of the track in their cars.
Drivers struggling for grip in Bahrain
A couple of minutes into the session, Vesti locked up at turn one, nearly spinning at the exit. Another driver who had a snap was Lance Stroll on the exit of turn four. A common theme throughout the session were drivers struggling with a lack of grip, with 50 degree track temperatures.
Oscar Piastri also had a moment at turn 13’s exit, which invalidated his lap. Vesti locked up another three times at turn one, turn 10 and turn 14 in just a couple of minutes as well, which showed a difficulty in Vesti adapting to the Mercedes W16.
Liam Lawson called the handling of his Racing Bull “appalling” and Lewis Hamilton, despite Ferrari’s updates to the car, felt he was struggling.
Yuki Tsunoda called the throttle of the RB21 “very lazy” and Isack Hadjar locked up at turn 14.
After the switch to softs, not many drivers struggled on their laps or talked about issues with their car.
Close encounters
There was a close encounter in the pits, as Albon was released into the path of Tsunoda, with Tsunoda overtaking Albon in the pits. Tsunoda was later called to the stewards office.
There was another close encounter, as Browning and Albon nearly crashed into each other, as Albon was impeding Browning on his slow lap while Browning was going full speed.
Struggles for Antonelli
Less than ten minutes into the session, Kimi Antonelli encountered engine problems, which meant he didn’t get much running in. He did manage to get back to the pits, which meant the session remained under green flags. Antonelli got out of the car and his running was done in FP1, which was a big blow for the Italian. The Mercedes crew struggled to get the gearbox separated.
Early Laptimes in Bahrain
Ten minutes in, Norris was first with a 1:35.2, but not many drivers set competitive times at this stage, with the running being more so about race runs and getting data for the team in the opening third of the session. This was evident as only six drivers were within a second of Norris’ time in this time.
One driver who did not seem to be struggling was Alex Albon, who set some very competitive times for Williams which put him first.
Soft tyres come out
Halfway through the session, the soft tyres finally came out. Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber was the first to set a time with a 1:34.6 which was half a second quicker than Albon’s on the mediums. Hirakawa and Bortoleto’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg also set times on softs. Hirakawa set a 1:35.5 and Hulkenberg went first with a 1:34.262 despite a large lockup at turn 10.
Piastri was on a soft tyre run before he ran wide at turn 15 but went second at the time. The Racing Bulls duo of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson also went onto softs. Hadjar went behind Bortoleto while Hirakawa’s teammate Esteban Ocon moved up to first on his softs. Lawson then went into fourth.
Tsunoda went sixth despite running wide at the final turn, while Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly both went first, with Gasly setting a marker of a 1:33.442. His teammate Jack Doohan was fifth behind Hulkenberg, Ocon, Albon and Gasly. Lance Stroll then went 11th on his set of softs.
Norris then went quickest with a 1:33.204 with just under 15 minutes remaining.
In the final ten minutes, Drugovich, Beganovic, Hamilton, Browning and Iwasa set times on the softs. Drugovich set a 1:35.1, with Beganovic jumping above him and Stroll in the pecking order. Hamilton went third six tenths behind Norris and Browning impressively moved up to 13th ahead of Beganovic.
Key takeaways from FP1 in Bahrain
Although practice isn’t necessarily an indication of pace, some teams will be happier than others.
Mercedes had the most laps with one driver, as Vesti set 25 laps, but Antonelli’s lack of running will be cause for concern. McLaren, Red Bull, Alpine, Sauber and Racing Bulls had plenty of laps, while Haas and Aston Martin had slightly less laps with 37 and 41 laps compared to the highest of McLaren being 45, but that shouldn’t mean too much.
Here’s the results:
- Lando Norris
- Pierre Gasly
- Lewis Hamilton
- Alex Albon
- Esteban Ocon
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Jack Doohan
- Liam Lawson
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Oscar Piastri
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Isack Hadjar
- Luke Browning
- Dino Beganovic
- Lance Stroll
- Felipe Drugovich
- Ryo Hirakawa
- Frederik Vesti
- Ayumu Iwasa
- Kimi Antonelli
