Formula 1’s first race weekend of 2024 is underway as Daniel Ricciardo and the rebranded RB team led the way from the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as teams began their various runs in preparation for the race on Saturday.
The relatively uneventful session saw the quickest time of the day go to Verstappen originally, who set the pace with a 1:33.535s lap, despite the reigning champion complaining about poor shifting with both up and downshifts. He would finish his FP1 session in 6th while teammate Sergio Perez would finish 12th.
Yuki Tsunoda set a fast lap to put his RB in 4th, behind the McLaren duo, while Fernando Alonso slotted his Aston Martin in 5th. Further down the field, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton found themselves 7th and 9th on the day, while Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz faired little better in 8th and 11th respectively.
Valtteri Bottas – on a set of soft tires – set the 10th quickest time of the day.
Alpine and Haas had a session to forget as both team occupied the final four spots on the timesheets, with the quickest car 1.938s off the pace of Ricciardo. Both teams will look for a stronger run session in FP2.
It’s early goings on day one, and the times mean little until we get to qualifying, but with 1st-14th place separated by 0.999s, it’s anyone’s game at this point.
Watch the highlights from this afternoon’s session and get ready for more on track action with Free Practice 2. Weekend Schedule is below.
FP2 Report – CLICK HERE
FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Feb. 29th | Practice 1 | 14:30 – 15:30 |
| Practice 2 | 18:00 – 19:00 | |
| Mar. 1st | Practice 3 | 15:30 – 16:30 |
| Qualifying | 19:00 – 20:00 | |
| Mar. 2nd | Race | 18:00 |
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from the first practice session of the season in Bahrain as Ricciardo sets the pace
Free Practice 1 Results:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:32.869 | 23 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:32.901 | 0.032s | 25 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:33.113 | 0.244s | 25 |
| 4 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:33.183 | 0.314s | 24 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:33.193 | 0.324s | 20 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:33.238 | 0.369s | 21 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:33.251 | 0.382s | 25 |
| 8 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:33.268 | 0.399s | 24 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:33.302 | 0.433s | 22 |
| 10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:33.354 | 0.485s | 21 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:33.385 | 0.516s | 26 |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:33.413 | 0.544s | 24 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:33.583 | 0.714s | 17 |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:33.868 | 0.999s | 20 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:33.923 | 1.054s | 16 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:34.213 | 1.344s | 19 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:34.807 | 1.938s | 21 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:35.144 | 2.275s | 24 |
| 19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:37.477 | 4.608s | 25 |
| 20 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:37.938 | 5.069s | 27 |
