Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Max Verstappen confirms Red Bull’s good form

She is here this 2021 Formula 1 season! Lots to watch during this first session, new teams, transfers, and finally rookie or returning drivers in F1.

The main change concerning these Free Practice sessions is that teams and drivers will now have only two hours of track time on Fridays, instead of three in previous years.

No time to lose for the 20 main actors of Formula 1, having only one hour of driving time, the drivers quickly take to the track. This first Free Practice session takes place during the day, while the race will be at night, so the drivers are getting their bearings on a particularly hot track.

Mercedes, whose car seems to be causing problems since the winter tests, is trying to solve its understeer issues. Sir Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are quickly racking up laps and adjusting the aerodynamic downforce on their front wings.

Ferrari, coming out of a complicated year, is struggling to regain its former glory. But the Maranello engine is still far from the Mercedes standard, with a performance deficit of about 30 horsepower. Nevertheless, Charles Leclerc signs a good testing session, just 0.600 seconds behind the benchmark time set by Max Verstappen.

On the French side, the Alpine team, heir to Renault F1, lines up this year with a line-up mixing a glorious past and the future of French motorsport. Fernando Alonso is making his grand return to F1 and intends to impress his young teammate Esteban Ocon. The two drivers finally finish 15th and 16th, more than 2 seconds behind the leader.

McLaren, currently the third force on the grid in 2020, will try to maintain this excellent position, with Lando Norris and the experienced Daniel Ricciardo. The young Englishman delivered a great performance by putting his McLaren in third place, ahead of his new teammate who finished 9th.

On the Aston Martin side, they are trying to catch up on the delay accumulated during the winter tests, due to a temperamental AMR21. The former Racing Point seems unstable and alternates between oversteer and understeer. It was a challenging session for the two green drivers, placing them in 12th and 13th positions.

Pierre Gasly, continues on the great momentum of his 2020 season and places his AlphaTauri in 7th place ahead of Carlos Sainz but also and especially ahead of his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 14th place on the timesheet.

Finally, the Austrian firm Red Bull, which made a strong impression 11 days ago during winter testing, confirms its good start to the season. Max Verstappen sets the best time of the session ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton places 4th more than half a second behind Red Bull number 33.

Free Practice 1 Ranking