Norris sets the pace in rookie-riddled FP1

Lando Norris set the pace during a scorching opening practice session in Bahrain, where six young drivers stepped up to the challenge amid low grip conditions and a shuffled finishing order.

It was a rookie-riddled hour of practice, with six drivers lending their F1 machinery to allow their team to tick off one of four mandatory rookie practice sessions across the season. 

Taking on the high-octane duties were Dino Beganovic with Ferrari, Ayumu Iwasa with Red Bull, Felipe Drugovich with Aston Martin, Ryo Hirakawa with Haas, Luke Browning with Williams and Frederick Vesti with Mercedes.

Sharing the inexperience of the rookies around Bahrain was Liam Lawson who arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit as the only driver not to complete pre-season testing in their current car.

Not thrilling his pit wall when he reported that the balance of his VCARB 02 was “shocking”, Lawson continued lapping the Bahrain International Circuit and eventually moved into the top ten. 

When Lawson made the switch to the soft compound, his fastest lap time was reduced to 1:34.397s which allowed him to settle into the top ten, before taking the chequered flag in P8. 

Starting his Bahrain campaign on the medium compound, Oscar Piastri was originally over a second off his teammate’s pace after wrestling his McLaren to stay within track limits at the final corner, instantly reporting “zero grip”. 

Despite the surface struggles, Piastri soon found his way back into the comfort of the top three, five-tenths behind the benchmark-holding Lando Norris after 20 minutes of track action.

When Piastri made the switch to the soft compound, the Australian was on track to set the top time, however, another error at the final turn cost him crucial time and left him in P3. 

The #81 fell down the order as his competitors made the red-marked switch, sitting on the border of the top ten as the final few minutes ticked by. 

The Australian ended FP2 in P10.

Looking to put together his first uninterrupted weekend of the season, Jack Doohan armed himself with the hard compound tyre to start FP1, making gains lap-by-lap.

With a time of 1:36.417s, Doohan jumped into the top ten, however, at a significant deficit to Pierre Gasly.

The Frenchman found top pace when Alpine elected to start its soft tyre program, extending the interval over Doohan to just under a second.

Just as his car reflects, the #7 settled into P7 after his short-lived quali simulation, rounding out the first of three practice sessions with a time of 1:34.396s.

As for the rest of the field, the McLaren was the front-running car from the get-go, with Norris instantly securing the top spot and holding onto it for the majority of the hour session. 

Momentarily picking the #4 off, Alex Albon went to the top of the timing sheets by just six-hundredths, with Gasly also an anomaly in the top three at the halfway mark of FP1.

Later on in the session, Albon and his temporary rookie teammate Browning, had a near miss when the F2 driver encountered a slow-moving Albon on the racing line, however, that wasn’t the #23’s only close call.

In the pitlane, Yuki Tsunoda was forced to take evasive action, diverting into the slow lane when the Williams driver was slowly released from his garage.

Both incidents were noted by the stewards.

Keeping a space free at the head of the field, Kimi Antonelli was out of action after losing power due to a supposed hydraulics issue that impacted the Mercedes driver early on in the hour.

In the garage, mechanics worked to pull his Mercedes apart, however, man-power wasn’t quite strong enough to allow the team to access the gearbox.

Antonelli wasn’t alone in his struggles, however, with Yuki Tsunoda and Lewis Hamilton both making their concerns public while the common theme across the pit lane revolved around the lack of grip. 

The Sauber drivers were the first to make the switch to the quicker soft compound tyre, jumping into P1 and P2 before the rest of the field followed suit.

Just as they had done on the medium compound, Gasly and Albon had found their way back into the top three, sitting comfortably as the lead drivers with a benchmark of 1:33.442s before Norris put his foot to the floor.

Knocking the #23 down a peg, Hamilton put on a fresh set of soft tyres in the closing moments of the session, putting Ferrari’s floor upgrades to work as he earned P3 to round out the scorching hot session. 

The rest of the field joined Hamilton on the grid for their first practice starts of the weekend, launching towards the first braking zone before taking a short break of their own in between FP1 and FP2.

As for the rookies, all six drivers expectedly sat towards the backend of the field, however, it was Luke Browning who was the fastest of the fill-ins. 

With all drivers returning, Free Practice 2 will kick off at 01:00 AEST.

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Free Practice 1 Results:

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