F1 Bahrain GP: Norris tops scorching FP1 from Gasly, Hamilton

McLaren driver Lando Norris led the way in opening practice for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix held in scorching hot conditions.

Norris was quickest from Alpine driver Pierre Gasly and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on a jumbled timesheet as teams diverged on run plans in the Bahrain daytime heat.

Friday's first practice session - on a circuit teams are intimately familiar with - proved an opportunity for six teams to slot in rookie drivers, which they now need to do at four Friday FP1s throughout the season.

Former F2 champion Felipe Drugovich was the most high-profile substitute - for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin - with Ayumu Iwasa deputising for Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Frederik Vesti, Luke Browning, Dino Beganovic and Ryo Hirakawa also made an appearance.

Vesti in particular caught the eye with a brace of lock-ups into Turn 1 and Turn 10 as he got accustomed to this year's Mercedes.

Norris led the early running, setting a 1m35.249s on mediums that initially went unchallenged, but was still six seconds removed from Carlos Sainz's fastest lap in winter testing at the same venue.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Sainz's Williams team-mate Alex Albon was Norris' closest challenger within a tenth until going top with a 1m35.180s on medium tyres, with Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto taking command right before the halfway point, setting a 1m34.628s as the first soft-tyre runner.

Bortoleto and then Gasly led a flurry of laps on Pirelli's softer compound, before Norris regained the top spot on the leaderboard with a 1m33.204s, ahead of Gasly, Albon and Haas driver Esteban Ocon.

At this stage neither Ferrari nor Mercedes car had embarked on soft-tyre run, as Hamilton saved his best effort for last, putting his Ferrari in third place on the times behind Norris and Gasly, as the Scuderia trialled substantial changes to its car's floor and diffuser.

Hamilton demoted Albon to fourth, followed by Haas' Ocon, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine man Jack Doohan. Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri rounded out an unusual top 10.

Alongside the usual caveat of unknown fuel loads and engine modes, the session's unrepresentative times was compounded by number of rookie drivers and the session being run in the heat of the day at 35C air temperature and 47C track temperature - significantly hotter than anticipated during the night-time qualifying session and race.

Second practice at the Bahrain International Circuit follows at 6pm local time.

F1 Bahrain GP - FP1 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	23	1'33.204		S	209.038
2	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	23	+0.238 1'33.442	0.238	S	208.505
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	23	+0.596 1'33.800	0.358	S	207.710
4	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	24	+0.724 1'33.928	0.128	S	207.426
5	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	19	+0.980 1'34.184	0.256	S	206.863
6	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	24	+1.058 1'34.262	0.078	S	206.691
7	J. Doohan Alpine	7		Alpine	Renault	23	+1.192 1'34.396	0.134	S	206.398
8	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	23	+1.193 1'34.397	0.001	S	206.396
9	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+1.280 1'34.484	0.087	S	206.206
10	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+1.304 1'34.508	0.024	S	206.153
11	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	23	+1.424 1'34.628	0.120	S	205.892
12	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	22	+1.463 1'34.667	0.039	S	205.807
13	L. Browning Williams	46		Williams	Mercedes	20	+1.681 1'34.885	0.218	S	205.334
14	D. Beganovic Ferrari	38		Ferrari	Ferrari	20	+1.851 1'35.055	0.170	S	204.967
15	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	23	+1.912 1'35.116	0.061	S	204.836
16	F. Drugovich Aston Martin Racing	34		Aston Martin	Mercedes	19	+1.994 1'35.198	0.082	S	204.659
17	R. Hirakawa Haas F1 Team	50		Haas	Ferrari	20	+2.057 1'35.261	0.063	S	204.524
18	F. Vesti Mercedes	72		Mercedes	Mercedes	26	+2.121 1'35.325	0.064	M	204.387
19	A. Iwasa Red Bull Racing	37		Red Bull	Red Bull	20	+2.271 1'35.475	0.150	M	204.065
20	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	3	+4.847 1'38.051	2.576	H	198.704
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