AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly set the pace in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, as the 2022 Formula 1 season – featuring revolutionary new cars – got under way…
The Frenchman used the soft tires to pump in 1m 34.193s, 0.364s clear of the medium-shod Charles Leclerc, who had a 360-degree spin when on the medium tires before recovering, with Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz third.
George Russell was the leading Mercedes in fourth, 0.4s off the pace but a quarter of a second quicker than team mate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (P7).
READ MORE: ‘I will be more aggressive in 2022’ vows Hamilton – as Verstappen says Mercedes have sandbagged during winter testing
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen began his title defense with the fifth-quickest time, the Red Bull driver rolling through four sets of tires but keeping the soft compound for FP2.
|
1 rock Gasly GAS Alpha Tauri |
1:34.193 |
|
2 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
+0.364s |
|
3 carlos sainz LIT Ferrari |
+0.418s |
|
4 george Russell RUS mercedes |
+0.436s |
|
5 Max Verstappen WORM Red Bull Racing |
+0.549s |
Lance Stroll slotted into sixth for Aston Martin, with team mate Nico Hulkenberg – who is standing in for Sebastian Vettel after his compatriot tested positive for Covid-19 – a second off in 14th.
Fernando Alonso was eighth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez closing out the top 10. Zhou Guanyu began his rookie year on a high note with the 11th-quickest time, after his first run on the red-walled soft compound tires .
READ MORE: ‘I was in bed!’ – Hulkenberg reveals frantic 24 hours after being called up to replace Vettel
The session was only a few minutes old when Esteban Ocon’s Alpine shed his upgraded sidepod bodywork on the main straight. Given the significant amount of scattered debris across the track, the session was red flagged.
Ocon returned to the track to go 12th, ahead of the leading Williams of Nicholas Latifi, who was two places and three-tenths quicker than new team mate Alex Albon (P15).
2022 Bahrain GP FP1: Ride onboard with Latifi’s visor cam
McLaren – who had a front brake duct upgrade after they encountered so many problems in testing – had a very low-key session with Lando Norris 16th and Daniel Ricciardo, who has recovered from Covid-19, 17th.
READ MORE: Leclerc says goal is to ‘fight for wins’ with Ferrari in 2022 ahead of season-opener
Mick Schumacher headed Haas team mate Kevin Magnussen – who had a late call to replace Nikita Mazepin this season – in 18th, three-tenths separating the duo.
Valtteri Bottas had a difficult session, the Alfa Romeo failing to register a time. He retired to the pits after reporting a misfire on his initial installation lap, and while he came out once more, he headed straight back to the garage again.
FP2 follows at 1800 local time as we begin to see how the teams stack up at Sakhir.
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