F1 Grand Prix practice results: Verstappen fastest in Bahrain GP on Friday

Pierre Gasly was fastest in FP1 for AlphaTauri but Verstappen set the quickest time of the day – under the floodlights in FP2 – at 1m31.936s.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the chase, just 0.087s slower, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell. His teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth, complaining of porpoising and brake issues.

Bahrain Grand Prix FP1 results: Gasly fastest from Leclerc

Cla	Driver		Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Pierre Gasly		23	1'34.193			206.843
2	Charles Leclerc		22	1'34.557	0.364	0.364	206.047
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.		23	1'34.611	0.418	0.054	205.929
4	George Russell		23	1'34.629	0.436	0.018	205.890
5	Max Verstappen		22	1'34.742	0.549	0.113	205.644
6	Lance Stroll		22	1'34.814	0.621	0.072	205.488
7	Lewis Hamilton		17	1'34.943	0.750	0.129	205.209
8	Fernando Alonso		14	1'35.000	0.807	0.057	205.086
9	Yuki Tsunoda		20	1'35.028	0.835	0.028	205.025
10	Sergio Perez		23	1'35.050	0.857	0.022	204.978
11	Guanyu Zhou		20	1'35.053	0.860	0.003	204.971
12	Esteban Ocon		15	1'35.151	0.958	0.098	204.760
13	Nicholas Latifi		15	1'35.644	1.451	0.493	203.705
14	Nico Hulkenberg		23	1'35.815	1.622	0.171	203.341
15	Alex Albon		17	1'35.923	1.730	0.108	203.112
16	Lando Norris		22	1'36.304	2.111	0.381	202.309
17	Daniel Ricciardo		20	1'36.402	2.209	0.098	202.103
18	Mick Schumacher		23	1'36.536	2.343	0.134	201.823
19	Kevin Magnussen		21	1'36.804	2.611	0.268	201.264
20	Valtteri Bottas		2
View full results

What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 1?

First practice took place in daytime, meaning it was not fully representative of either qualifying or the race, both of which will occur in cooler conditions in the evening.

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo set the early pace on, as the new-look 2022 cars were put through their paces in anger in an official F1 session for the first time.

A red flag was soon required to clean up the debris from Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, whose right sidepod came apart soon after he opened the DRS on the start/finish straight – showering the following Nico Hulkenberg’s Aston Martin with carbonfibre pieces.

The session resumed with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso going fastest on soft tyres, before Max Verstappen beat that by 0.464s using mediums – lapping in 1m34.783s and then 1m34.742s.

As more teams gravitated to running softs, George Russell’s Mercedes – which earlier lost a chunk of bodywork – went to the top on 1m34.629s, just as Charles Leclerc spun his Ferrari.

With 13 minutes to go, Gasly took P1 for AlphaTauri on 1m34.193s, followed by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who were both running mediums to Gasly’s softs.

Verstappen slipped back to fifth, but didn’t run softs at all like the Ferraris, but was ahead of those that did: Lance Stroll (Aston), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Sergio Perez’s Red Bull rounded out the top 10 with a time also set on mediums.

Bahrain Grand Prix FP2 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc

Cla	Driver		Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen		20	1'31.936			211.921
2	Charles Leclerc		20	1'32.023	0.087	0.087	211.720
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.		22	1'32.520	0.584	0.497	210.583
4	George Russell		25	1'32.529	0.593	0.009	210.563
5	Fernando Alonso		24	1'32.877	0.941	0.348	209.774
6	Valtteri Bottas		30	1'32.951	1.015	0.074	209.607
7	Sergio Perez		20	1'32.958	1.022	0.007	209.591
8	Mick Schumacher		24	1'33.085	1.149	0.127	209.305
9	Lewis Hamilton		23	1'33.144	1.208	0.059	209.172
10	Kevin Magnussen		23	1'33.183	1.247	0.039	209.085
11	Lando Norris		27	1'33.280	1.344	0.097	208.867
12	Esteban Ocon		25	1'33.360	1.424	0.080	208.688
13	Pierre Gasly		24	1'33.621	1.685	0.261	208.107
14	Yuki Tsunoda		26	1'33.789	1.853	0.168	207.734
15	Guanyu Zhou		27	1'33.953	2.017	0.164	207.371
16	Lance Stroll		25	1'33.958	2.022	0.005	207.360
17	Nico Hulkenberg		28	1'34.061	2.125	0.103	207.133
18	Daniel Ricciardo		12	1'34.166	2.230	0.105	206.902
19	Nicholas Latifi		28	1'34.486	2.550	0.320	206.201
20	Alex Albon		22	1'34.735	2.799	0.249	205.659
View full results

What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 2?

From the start of FP2 under the floodlights, Leclerc set the benchmark at 1m33.121s – already a second faster than Gasly’s FP1 time – on mediums. He led an early Ferrari 1-2 from Sainz, with Alonso third ahead of Alpine teammate Ocon.

Verstappen took P2 on his first flyer on mediums, 0.5s off Leclerc, while Hamilton took fifth but complained of porpoising on the straights. Valtteri Bottas jumped to P4 for Alfa Romeo, bouncing back from a troubled first session due to engine issues, ahead of a late-running Perez.

The soft tyres made an appearance as the halfway point loomed, with Kevin Magnussen going P2 for Haas, just 0.062s off Leclerc. Alonso briefly took over the top spot on softs, with 1m32.877s, while Sainz lapped 0.188s off that after running wide at the final two corners.

Leclerc retook his place at the head of the timesheet with 1m32.263s on softs, 0.6s clear, with Bottas surging to third and Perez taking fourth.

Verstappen reset the bar with 28 minutes to go, setting 1m31.936s that would remain the fastest lap of the day. Leclerc responded with 1m32.023s on his second push lap, just 0.087s slower.

Sainz pitted but later went third after taking another run on his softs, albeit 0.584s off the pace. Russell ended up fourth, ahead of Alonso, Bottas, Perez, Mick Schumacher (Haas), Hamilton and Magnussen.

FP1 pacesetter Gasly could only manage the 13^th-quickest time, 1.685s off the pace.