Lando Norris Leads the Pack in Bahrain Grand Prix’s Opening Practice

McLaren driver Lando Norris set the pace in the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix, outperforming Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. The teams adopted diverse run strategies as they navigated the daytime heat on a familiar circuit.

Rookie Drivers Make Their Debut in Friday’s Practice Session

Six teams took advantage of this opportunity to introduce rookie drivers, a requirement that will occur at four Friday FP1s throughout the season. The most prominent substitute was Felipe Drugovich, standing in for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, with Ayumu Iwasa deputizing for Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Frederik Vesti, Luke Browning, Dino Beganovich, and Ryo Hirakawa also made appearances.

Vesti particularly caught the eye with a couple of lock-ups into Turn 1 and Turn 10 as he acclimated 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 slower than Carlos Sainz’s fastest lap from winter testing at the same venue.

The Battle for Top Spot Heats Up

Albon, Norris’ closest challenger within a tenth, improved to 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 with a 1m33.204s.

At this stage, neither Ferrari nor Mercedes had embarked on a soft-tyre run. Hamilton saved his best effort for last, finishing third behind Norris and Gasly as tested substantial changes to its car’s floor and diffuser.

The Unusual Top 10 and Challenges Faced

Hamilton demoted Albon to fourth, followed by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, and Alpine man Jack Doohan. Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, and Oscar Piastri rounded out an unusual top 10. The session was marked by unknown fuel loads, engine modes, a 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.

The second practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit will follow at 6pm local time. Stay tuned for more updates from the Bahrain Grand Prix!