McLaren dominates and Alpine surprises in FP1 in Bahrain

Lando Norris was fastest in the opening session of the weekend in Bahrain, posting a time of 1:33.204. He was followed by a surprising Pierre Gasly, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top three.

Photo: Mclaren

Free Practice 1 in Bahrain was a complicated and unrepresentative session. The drivers were visibly uncomfortable, especially due to the lack of grip on the track. This circuit is typically demanding on tires, largely due to the high asphalt temperatures, which adds an extra challenge for the teams.

However, the times and performance seen in this session are not entirely conclusive, as the conditions were very different from those expected for both qualifying and the race. Furthermore, the presence of six rookies in this practice session also slightly disrupted the usual run of the session, reinforcing the idea that there is still much to discover this weekend.

During Free Practice 1 in Bahrain, several teams took the opportunity to give young drivers a run, which also influenced the session. At Ferrari, Dino Beganovic replaced Charles Leclerc, while at Haas, Ryo Hirakawa replaced Ollie Bearman. Mercedes fielded Frederik Vesti in place of George Russell, and Aston Martin did the same with Felipe Drugovich, who took the car of Fernando Alonso. At Williams, Luke Browning took the seat of Carlos Sainz and at Red Bull, Ayumu Iwasa took the wheel in place of Max Verstappen.

On the other hand, the session produced several important events that marked the start of the weekend in Bahrain. Mercedes faced complications, especially with Kimi Antonelli, who suffered power issues due to a water pressure failure that cools the engine system. This situation forced the team to work intensively on the car, and Antonelli was only able to complete three laps in the entire session.

Williams surprised with a solid pace, reaffirming the good feelings they had already shown in the preseason tests held at this same circuit earlier this year. Alpine also made waves: Pierre Gasly posted an excellent second place, just 0.238 seconds behind Lando Norris, who led the session with his McLaren.

Ferrari, on the other hand, had a somewhat complicated session. Lewis Hamilton was not entirely satisfied with the car's performance. The Italian team has been struggling with an inconsistent start to the season, with performances that haven't been entirely convincing, either due to the performance of the car or due to strategic decisions that haven't gone as expected.

Additionally, Ferrari arrived in Bahrain with several improvements, primarily focused on the car's floor. The Italian team hopes these updates will allow them to improve the car's overall performance, especially in terms of downforce and efficiency.

However, in this first session, not much difference was noticed, and the team didn't seem entirely convinced by the car's behavior on track. Still, it's too early to draw conclusions: the conditions of this FP1 are very different from those seen in qualifying and the race, so we'll have to wait and see if these improvements really make a difference when it matters most.

McLaren, for its part, continues to show solid performance and is positioned as one of the favorites for this weekend. They had already impressed with their speed during preseason testing in Bahrain, and in this first free practice session, they reaffirmed those feelings, with Lando Norris leading the session.

However, although McLaren has stood out as the fastest car so far, the gap to the rest of the field isn't as wide as many might think. Teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull aren't that far behind the Woking-based team, and everything points to a very close battle for the rest of the weekend.