Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time in Bahrain Grand Prix’s first practice as the new Formula 1 season held on to its secrets for a little longer.
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing (RB) set the fastest time in the first practice of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which kicks off the season. The Australian driver outperformed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren to win the top spot at the Bahrain International Circuit. Yuki Tsunodoa of the other RB finished fourth. Using the softest tires available, all four drivers achieved their best times.
The majority of drivers began the hectic session on the C2 compound medium tires, and as cars made quick progress, the lead changed hands regularly. During this first lap, reigning world champion Max Verstappen held his powder dry. However, ten minutes later, the Dutchman emerged from the Red Bull garage and raced to the top of the order with a lap time of 1:33.900.
But the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were getting better. Russell found more pace3 to achieve a time of 1:33.749 and pass Verstappen to P2 after Hamilton closed the gap to three-hundredths of a second.
But Verstappen was clicking, and a lap of 1:33.535 saw him take the lead back a few moments later.
With a pace of 1:33.113, Piastri jumped to the top of the order as the halfway point approached by bolting on a set of C3 Soft tires. Then, with a lap time of 1:32.901 on the soft tires, Norris advanced. After completing his first lap on Softs in third place behind Piastri, Ricciardo, the Japanese driver’s teammate, took the lead with a soft-shod 1:32.869.
Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin finished fifth on the leaderboard behind the top four, and Verstappen followed the Spaniard in on Medium tires to record a new best time of 1:33.238, 0.369 behind leader Daniel Ricciardo.
The Dutchman was followed by Russell, Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who were all running on medium tires. Valtteri Bottas of Sauber, who also achieved a personal best time on soft tires, completed the top ten.
