The Formula 1 season is officially launched. This Thursday, the first free practice session on the Sakhir circuit on the Bahrain side gave the first small indications of the teams’ performances a week after unrevealing winter tests on the same track.
It was Daniel Ricciardo, for the new Racing Bulls (ex-Alpha Tauri) which is expected to perform much better than last year, who took the best time in the first session on soft tires (1:32.869), ahead of the two McLarens of Lando Norris (+ 0.032) and Oscar Piastri (+ 0.244). Max Verstappen was content with the 6th time (+ 0.369), but with intermediate tires, the second best lap with this rubber, only ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso (+ 0.324).
During the second session, it was the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (1:30.374) and George Russell (+ 0.206) who showed the best dispositions, while the three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen continued to advance masked , in sixth place (+ 0.477).
Alpine at the back of the pack
On the Alpine side, there is already reason to be a little worried. Projected last in pure performance for qualifying due to the overweight of the car (+10 kg) and a power deficit on its engine, the French team is stagnating for the moment at the end of the peloton. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon set the 17th and 18th times respectively on medium tires in the first session, then the 16th and 18th times in free practice 2.
The entire grid now meets this Friday at 4:40 p.m. for qualifying, before the race, once scheduled for Saturday, at 4 p.m.
