George Russell started his weekend on the fly as a Mercedes super submarine by driving fastest in the first practice session of the Sakhir Grand Prix ahead of Red Bulls Max Verstappen when the drivers got a first impression of the “Outer Loop” route configuration in Bahrain .
In the absence of Lewis Hamilton, who is self-isolating with Covid-19 this weekend, Russell took his place at Mercedes this weekend and finished his first session with a lap of 54,546 seconds on this fast-paced layout of the Bahrain International Circuit. Russell’s lap was 0.332 seconds faster than the best performance by team-mate Valterri Bottas, who was fourth-fastest behind Russell and the two Red Bulls.
READ MORE: When will he return and who will replace him? The key questions were answered after Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19
Red Bull finished P2 and P3, Verstappen 0.176 seconds behind Russell and Alex Albon just 0.265 seconds. Albon had a high-speed spin late in the session at Turn 2, but luckily his RB16 was unharmed.
Fifth place, Daniil Kvyat, was less than half a second ahead of Russell and just over a tenth faster than sixth teammate Pierre Gasly, as AlphaTauri had an encouraging session. In one bizarre moment, Gasly was clinging to his right wing mirror when it threatened to fall off the car on the way back to the pits.
|
1 George Russell RUS Mercedes | 54,546 |
|
2 Max Verstappen SEE Red Bull Racing | + 0.176 s |
|
3 Alexander Albon WHITE Red Bull Racing | + 0.265 s |
|
4th Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes | + 0.322 s |
|
5 Daniil Kvyat KVY AlphaTauri | + 0.465 s |
The Renaults and Ferraris lined up one after the other, Esteban Ocon seventh and Daniel Ricciardo ninth; Sebastian Vettel eighth and Charles Leclerc tenth – both teams are hoping for more after finishing behind the McLarens at the Bahrain Grand Prix last week.
Racing Point therefore missed the top 10 with Lance Stroll in 11th and Sergio Perez, who retired from the podium last time in 12th.
READ MORE: Russell can “get pole and win” on Mercedes debut, says Norris, while Leclerc predicts “at least a podium”.
McLaren was also missing from the top 10 of the first RP, with Carlos Sainz 13th having spent a lot of time in the garage doing repairs due to the bumps and heavy curbs of this track layout. Lando Norris was 16th overall.
Between the McLarens were the Alfa Romeos from 14th place Kimi Räikkönen and 15th place Antonio Giovinazzi.
2020 Sakhir Grand Prix FP1: Gasly drives one-handed with a broken mirror
When Romain Grosjean recovered from his horror crash in the last race, Pietro Fittipaldi was named as his replacement and finished P19 for Haas in that session. He was just below a second teammate Kevin Magnussen, who finished 17th as he prepares to jump to the Stateside sports car in 2021.
WATCH: “Thank you for saving my life” – Emotional Grosjean meets his rescuers at the Bahrain GP
Behind Fittipaldi was Williams’ reserve driver Jack Aitken, who will stand for Russell this weekend. Aitken rounded off the overall standings, 2.157 seconds ahead of Russell in the Mercedes and a little more than four-tenths behind his team-mate Nicholas Latifi, who finished 18th.
Williams’ Latifi and Aitken were the only drivers who didn’t set their fastest times on soft tires, with Latifi using media for his personal best and Aitken using hard connections.
Free Practice 2 is likely to be another action-packed session as the laps are tight and fast on this very brief short circuit, but will anyone be able to knock Mercedes’ temporary driver Russell off the top of the standings? Find out as soon as the FP2 starts at 2030 local time.
