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Formula 1 Bahrain GP

F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Thursday's action from the first round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull have arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit as the clear favourites after testing. 

But with the Ferrari SF-24 showing pace in the hands of both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and Red Bull enduring some reliability issues during pre-season, there is hope of a battle for the top step of the podium.

With the midfield appearing closer than ever, answers will begin to become clear as the action gets under way. 

FP1 will begin at 11:30 GMT (14:30 local) with FP2 following at 15:00 GMT (18:00 local).

By: Haydn Cobb, Sam Hall

Stopped
Summary
  • Ricciardo tops FP1 in Bahrain for RB
  • Verstappen sixth after numerous car complaints
  • Hamilton fastest from Russell in FP2
Leaderboard
  1. Hamilton, Mercedes
  2. Russell, Mercedes
  3. Alonso, Aston Martin
  4. Sainz, Ferrari
  5. Piastri, McLaren
  6. Verstappen, Red Bull
  7. Hulkenberg, Haas
  8. Stroll, Aston Martin
  9. Leclerc, Ferrari
  10. Perez, Red Bull
Checkered flag
With that we'll call time on this live text coverage of Bahrain GP practice. Final practice gets under way at 12:30pm GMT tomorrow with qualifying at 4pm GMT. Remember, qualifying is on Friday afternoon and the race is at 3pm GMT on Saturday. Until then, go well!
Mercedes on top with Red Bull struggling... we'll see how accurate that'll be come this time tomorrow and Saturday. Now it is time to crunch the numbers and come up with the answers.
Breaking news
Here's the full report on FP2 as Hamilton leads a Mercedes 1-2.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Quote
"The upshifts in the start is just... so bad!" Verstappen tells Red Bull over team radio. Far from the smoothest day for the world champions.
Hamilton is the last to take the chequered flag as he tops the times. Just practice starts on the grid as the final order of the day.
Checkered flag
So, a Mercedes 1-2 to end FP2. Nobody would've told you that was going to happen at the start of the day. Has Mercedes turned up its engines more than the rest at this point of the weekend? We'll probably find out the truth this time tomorrow.
The McLaren pair have switched to the medium tyres for a bit of late comparison running inside the final three minutes of FP2.
Tsunoda locks up into Turn 1 to dampen his run on these softs. Verstappen, Russell and Alonso are lapping in the high 1m36s with everyone else in the 1m37s or 1m38 region. But again, fuel loads and engine modes are largely unknown.
Norris, with a punch of DRS, gets by Ocon into Turn 1. Racing on a Thursday, it all happens in F1.
Norris is spending his race run tucked up behind Ocon's Alpine. It isn't entirely clear why but at least he's getting a good feel for his car in dirty air.
Sargeant is the only driver in the pits, which could be down to his earlier skip over the gravel, as everyone else banks the laps.
The lap times coming in are also reflecting the race run feel too. So, Norris didn't get a clean quali lap in at all in FP2, as he is bottom of the times and 2.2s off the pace. The rest, minus the Red Bulls, are close enough to where we would've predicted.
That looks to be it for the qualifying runs, as most drivers return for a stint on used softs and appear to be full of fuel. This is normally when everyone starts a race sim so in terms of outright lap time, that should be your lot.
Photo

The cause of Merecedes' sudden pace jump has been revealed...

Mercedes team members with the car of Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Mercedes team members with the car of Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Stopwatch
Alonso pops his Aston Martin into third with a 1m30.660s - nearly three-tenths off Hamilton's leading lap time.
Quote
"They are all ******* sleeping tonight," as Leclerc is held up by a coasting driver for the second time in this session.
Replays catch Sargeant going wide, off track and over a small gravel trap which his Williams mechanics won't thank him for.
Stopwatch
Meanwhile Russell makes it a Mercedes 1-2 as he goes second with a 1m30.580s. Both Mercedes are running very low to the ground with a lot of sparks coming off the floor.
So, Red Bull, are the sandbags out or is this genuine?
Stopwatch
Verstappen only goes fourth with a 1m30.851s - 0.477s off Hamilton's leading effort.
Perez improves on his softs but only goes sixth quickest, 0.741s back, so what can Red Bull team-mate Verstappen produce?
Stopwatch
Hamilton sets a new benchmark of 1m30.374s which pushes his advantage to nearly four-tenths over Sainz.
Leclerc also messed up his latest lap, locking up on the kerb into Turn 4, so he stays seventh.
Stopwatch
Sainz is now second with a 1m30.769s ahead of Piastri and Hulkenberg. Norris had a poor lap and remains 18th.
Stopwatch
On fresh softs Hulkenberg pops up to second with 1m30.884s. Quick times incoming!
Quote
"Just a reminder I need to change my steering wheel for the next run," Norris reports over the team radio.
Everyone who is out on track is on soft tyres, so time for a bit of quali simulation. Whoopie.
Quote
"I have too much air coming into my helmet," Verstappen says over team radio. I bet if they asked Newey he could've seen that trackside.
Stopwatch
Verstappen chips away at his personal best in this session to go third with a 1m31.161s. He's still got four-tenths to find to catch Hamilton but it is early days yet.