Bahrain – Free Practice 1: Rosberg ahead of Hamilton and Räikkönen

The free practice sessions took place at an unusually low temperature for Bahrain. Indeed, at 22°C, the air temperature does not reach the usual temperatures of the Middle East. However, the teams did not complain since it matches the temperatures they will encounter during the race.

This first session was also the debut for two drivers: Alfonso Celis Jr and Stoffel Vandoorne turned their first laps in an official F1 session. The young Mexican was replacing his compatriot, Sergio Perez, at the wheel of a Sahara Force India. He focused his F1 debut by running consecutive sets of soft tires. Nonetheless, his best time was only enough for the second-to-last position in the session, just ahead of Rio Haryanto. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg finished in a solid sixth place.

On the other hand, for Stoffel Vandoorne, the challenge was elsewhere. Indeed, the young Belgian will participate in his first full F1 weekend, stepping in for the injured Fernando Alonso. For him, the main goal was to familiarize himself with the race procedures, particularly the tire changes directly in front of the pit stand. Finishing 18th and one second behind Jenson Button, it mainly reflects the fact that he wasn’t seeking performance and spent most of the session on medium tires, compared to soft tires for the Brit.

Far from these considerations, the two Mercedes monopolized the top of the timing sheet. This time, it was Nico Rosberg who stood out, particularly with a lap of 1:32.294, nearly a second faster than last season’s pole position! The gap with Lewis Hamilton is also significant, as the Briton is half a second behind.

The gap is even larger with the first competitor outside the team, as Kimi Räikkönen is trailing by 1.8 seconds, but the Finnish driver used two sets of softs and as many mediums, while the Mercedes drivers focused solely on the softs. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel was sidelined at the beginning of the session due to a water leak on his car. He therefore concentrated solely on medium runs to complete 16 laps during the session and finished 11th overall.

The two Red Bulls and the two Toro Rossos were in close formation, with Daniil Kvyat just eight hundredths behind Daniel Ricciardo, while Max Verstappen was only 6 tenths behind Carlos Sainz. The two Faenza cars were not far ahead of Romain Grosjean, who finished in a nice 9th place, just a breath ahead of Felipe Massa’s Williams. The battle looks tight between the two teams as Esteban Gutierrez (13th) finished just two tenths behind the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

On the Renault side, performance doesn’t seem to be quite there yet as Kevin Magnussen finishes 15th while Jolyon Palmer couldn’t do better than 20th.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr