The 2024 Formula 1 season is officially underway, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton topping one practice session each on the opening day of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Racing Bulls, McLaren and Sauber were the only teams to run soft tyres in a windy opening practice session, with Ricciardo followed by Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and teammate Yuki Tsunoda on the time sheets.
Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen were fifth and sixth quickest, with their best laps set on the medium tyres.
The majority of the field took to the track at the start of FP1, all on mediums. The lead changed hands multiple times over the opening 30 minutes as track conditions ramped up, with Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari all spending time at the top.
Piastri was the first driver to try out the soft mid-way through the 60-minute session and immediately jumped to the top of the time sheets. Norris bettered his teammate’s time moments layer, while Tsunoda went third.
Ricciardo’s 1:32.869 then put him in the lead, just 0.032 seconds ahead of Norris.
George Russell was the fastest Mercedes driver in seventh, ahead of top Ferrari Charles Leclerc, Hamilton and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who completed the top ten. Departing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was 11th, ahead of Sergio Perez.
The pace ramped up in FP2, and Hamilton’s 1:30.374, set on softs, was two-tenths faster than Russell, who finished second.
The second session began at the same time as Saturday’s race, which saw teams running at race pace for the majority of proceedings, albeit in cold and windy conditions.
Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari began their runs on softs, and the improvements in times were quick, with Sainz leading early but quickly toppled by Leclerc, Hamilton and then Alonso in the lead.
Hamilton’s time set in the first half-hour remained at the top until the chequered flag, with the second half of FP2 dedicated to longer runs.
Eight-hundredths behind Russell in third was Alonso, with Sainz fourth, Piastri fifth and Verstappen sixth.
Haas appeared significantly off the pace in FP1, but a rejuvenated effort in FP2 saw a late 1:30.884 from Hulkenberg push him to seventh, just 0.033 seconds behind the three-time defending World Champion.
Lance Stroll, Leclerc and Perez completed the top ten, while Alex Albon was 11th and two-tenths faster than Ricciardo.
Norris failed to set a representative time and remained 20th, abandoning his early soft tyre lap and having difficulties that forced a steering wheel switch for the remainder of the session.
Formula 1 returns for FP3 at 1.15 am on Saturday (NZ time), followed by qualifying at 4.10 am. Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix begins on Sunday at 4.00 am New Zealand time.
Header Image: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
