Norris leads Gasly in opening Bahrain Grand Prix practice

Lando Norris topped a sweltering first practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix. FP1 is one of two daytime sessions for the night-time grand prix in Bahrain, and afternoon conditions were particularly severe on Formula 1’s return to the circuit following preseason testing at this venue around six weeks earlier. The air temperature soared to 95 degrees F, sending the track temperature on this abrasive surface to as high as 120. It was in stark contrast the cool and even occasionally wet condition of Bahrain in February. One constant across months, however, is McLaren emerging as the field leader, with Norris setting the hour-long session’s fastest time with around 15 minutes still to run. He was challenged late, when some teams attempted to capitalize on the slightly cooling conditions by setting their fast laps in the final minutes, but all attempts failed, keeping Norris in top spot with a best time of 1m33.204s. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, had the speed to match if not eclipse Norris throughout FP1, but a minor error through the final corner on what should have been his fastest lap left him 10th in the order and circulating 1.304s off the pace. Piastri’s slip left Pierre Gasly unencumbered to finish second for Alpine, the Frenchman lapping 0.238s off Norris’s pace. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three on what sounded like a challenging first session for the Ferrari driver, based on his team radio communication. The seven-time champion has put much stock in the Scuderia upgrading its car this weekend, but his early reviews of the package wasn’t great. After complaining early of poor balance that he suspected was down to tire warm-up, the Briton summed up the SF-25 as a “horrendous” car to drive. He ended the hour 0.596s off the pace. Alex Albon was fourth fastest ahead of Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Jack Doohan. Liam Lawson was another to lament “shocking balance” on his way to eighth ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda and the unrepresentative Piastri. Gabriel Bortoleto was 11th for Sauber ahead of Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar. Luke Browning commandeered Carlos Sainz’s Williams car for one of the team’s four mandatory rookie sessions and ended up quickest among the stand-in drivers, ending the hour 13th and 1.68s off the pace. Dino Beganovic took control of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari for the hour on his way to 14th ahead of Lance Stroll and his temporary Aston Martin teammate and long-running reserve Felipe Drugovich. Ryo Hirakawa followed in 17th after an extraordinary week for the Japanese sports car icon. Hirakawa quit his duties as Alpine reserve driver almost immediately after the Japanese Grand Prix — where the French-owned team had fielded him in FP1 at Doohan’s expense — to take up a similar role at Haas with the chance to drive again this weekend. Mercedes junior Frederic Vesti took George Russell’s car to 18th ahead of Red Bull Racing stand-in Ayumu Iwasa, who displaced Max Verstappen for the day. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was classified last for Mercedes after a suspected water leak forced him back to his garage with only three laps on the board. He was unable to rejoin the session before the hour expired.