F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 and FP2
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Leclerc sets a new PB on the softs, but it's only good enough for eighth at the moment, half a second behind his team-mate. Does he need to get a wiggle on?
But alas it's not to last, as Hamilton returns normal service by improving to a 1m31.082s. Who will be the first man into the 1m30s?
As Stroll splits the two AlphaTauris in fourth place, Sainz shoots to the top of the leaderboard in the Ferrari (not something we've typed much of late) on a 1m31.127s.
Stopwatch
But Gasly now steals the bragging rights for the best soft-shot car as he jumps into second on a 1m31.483s, only to himself be deposed by Tsunoda on a 1m31.294 - just a fraction of a second slower than Hamilton's earlier time on the mediums.
That's a bit more like the Vettel of old. He moves up to third on the softs with a 1m31.769s.
Hamilton, the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, Giovinazzi in the sole functioning Alfa and Ocon's Alpine (also feels weird to type and not be at Le Mans) also now take the red-walled softs for a spin.
Both Aston Martins (it still feels weird to type that and not be sat in a press box at Le Mans) and both AlphaTauris are also on softs.
However Tsunoda's grip on P8 is short-lived as Russell makes use of the empty track to post a 1m32.331s on soft tyres.
So the top four has a 'Noah's Ark' feel to it, with Hamilton leading Bottas, the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez just behind. Then it's Sainz leading Gasly, then their team-mates Leclerc and Tsunoda completing the top eight.
A good observation from Grand Prix editor ALEX KALINAUCKAS, who points out: "The wind has also completely turned around for FP2 - it's a slight headwind down the main straight now".
Just the three cars out on track currently as everybody else has pitted for a data download. The Williams pair Russell and Latifi are joined by Norris.
Crash
Woops - Raikkonen may be the most experienced man in the field, but the 2007 world champion is not above making mistakes. He drops the back-end exiting Turn 3, skitters across the gravel before ripping off the front nose and bouncing his right-rear corner against the wall as he spins. That'll take some sorting for the Alfa mechanics.
Perez meanwhile moves up to fourth, also broaching into the 1m31s with a 31.969s. Encouraging signs for the Mexican, who remember was the winner the last time we held a Grand Prix in Bahrain albeit on the shorter 'outer-loop' track.
Now Hamilton winds up a quick one and usurps his Finnish team-mate to go fastest on a 1m31.261s. Both were set on the medium tyre.
Stopwatch
Now Bottas moves to the top on a 1m31.503s, which puts him three tenths clear of Verstappen in second. Currently they're the only two drivers under the 1m32s marker.
Yuki Tsunoda certainly isn't hanging about. He jumps up to second in the AlphaTauri on a 1m32.044s. But it's short-lived due to our old friend, track limits.
The top six have all set their times on the mediums - the fastest man using the hards is Giovinazzi in P7 currently.
Doesn't this make a nice change from the usual borefest of FP2 last year when the the big teams would wait for the tailenders to clean up the track?
Absolutely everybody out on track at the moment, the Mercedes pair the only cars yet to officially put a time on the board though.
Intriguingly though, Hamilton's time is deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 4 - as is team-mate Bottas's opening gambit, which means Verstappen is now quickest on a 1m31.842s.
The first representative laptime posted by Leclerc, who goes purple on a 1m32.327s. But that's swiftly beaten by his new team-mate Sainz, before Hamilton then launches to top spot on a 1m31.647s.
Already there's a mini battle on track as Schumacher, Norris and Stroll jockey for position before backing off to get enough space to start a lap. Looks like we're in Q1 already!
No messing about at Mercedes, as Hamilton is straight out on a set of the medium tyres. The track already is looking very busy with just an hour of running in this session.
Esteban Ocon was the first man at the end of the pitlane, but pulls aside to do a practice start so it's the Alfa Romeos of Raikkonen and Giovinazzi that leave the pits first.
Here we go, FP2 is underway.
Remember, track conditions in these cooler evening temperatures in Sakhir will be much more representative of the conditions we'll have for qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday. So this is the session that the teams will really be focusing on.
Breaking news
Before the action gets underway, here's an interesting story from JONATHAN NOBLE about how Mercedes' low-rake concept has been hurt by the new floor regulations.
"Definitely our analyses have shown that the high-rake concept has lost less downforce than the lower rake, and in the last year of these regulations we wouldn't be able to replicate the concept that Red Bull and some of the other teams have been racing."
What are you looking forward to seeing in FP2? Personally, I'm most intrigued to see how close McLaren can get to the works Mercedes in the times. Lando Norris will be encouraged by finishing third earlier, but it's still very early days yet.
Here's your eight-minute klaxon. Is that a thing? Probably not.
At the other end of the laps completed chart in FP1, with a whopping 23 (albeit only in the context of a football match against San Marino) was Pierre Gasly, who explained yesterday that he had "closed a chapter" on a turbulent period in his career by penning an article for the Players Tribune that appeared this week.
Here's what he had to say about it.
Here's what he had to say about it.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
What perhaps was telling is that Verstappen completed the fewest laps of anybody in FP1, with just 12 on the board. For reference, the next fewest laps were completed by Ferrari twins Leclerc and Sainz. Does that betray a certain confidence, or are we reading too much into things?
In terms of the competitive order, it's still too early to tell yet - given the small sample size we have to work from - how much things have changed since testing, where Red Bull was top dog. Max Verstappen was fastest in FP1, but we all know that the prize of FP1 world champion is about as valuable as my under-sevens Holy Trinity FC players player of the year award from 2001.
What did we learn this morning? For one thing, it appears the reduced session times are making the teams work a bit more to utilise their track time. Hopefully that means we'll have plenty to talk about over the next hour-and-a-bit.
Good afternoon folks, hope you've had a pleasant break. Not long now until the second free practice session of the 2021 season gets underway, so stay tuned to our feed for the resumption of activities at 3pm GMT.
Breaking news
And here's the report from FP1! We'll see you in a couple of hours' time for FP2: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/verstappen-fastest-from-bottas-in-f1-bahrain-gp-opening-practice/5918485/
The top 8, encouragingly all within a second. This session is less representative of what we'll get this weekend, given the races are at night, but it gives us something to cling to...
Verstappen top of the pops in that session, with Bottas, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly, Sainz, Ricciardo and Giovinazzi completing the top 10.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Stephen Lickorish
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