Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: The Mercedes dominate in the Sakhir desert
607 days after the last laps of F1 cars on the Sakhir circuit, the drivers were very active and studious on the track during consecutive laps. Unsurprisingly, it was the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that dominated the session.
If rain made an appearance during Free Practice in Formula 2, it’s another natural element that came to disrupt drivers like Romain Grosjean or Charles Leclerc. Indeed, the wind led some drivers to make mistakes, notably causing a major off-track excursion for the French driver of the Haas team.
Grosjean loses it in the middle sector ????
GRO ????: “I’m okay, tyre is completely gone”
He keeps the car out of the barriers and pits#BahrainGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/KcVnacrS40
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 27, 2020
At mid-session, it is clear that the drivers are finding their rhythm on the circuit, particularly by making the most of the track limits. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes lead the field ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who is struggling with his braking. The Finnish driver has indeed damaged several sets of tires by repeatedly locking his front wheels. The star-branded team dominates the proceedings ahead of Sergio Perez’s Racing Point and the two Red Bulls.
Half an hour before the end of Free Practice 1, the lights of the 500 projectors begin to illuminate the Sakhir track. The very abrasive track improves with each pass of the cars, but it will put a strain on the tires this weekend.
With 10 minutes remaining in the session, the silver arrows are largely dominating, relegating Sergio Perez’s pink car and the Spanish driver Carlos Sainz to almost a second behind. Searching for speed since the start of the season, Scuderia Ferrari is not having a good time on this Bahrain circuit. The reds are stagnating in the middle of the standings, more than a second and a half behind the leaders.
On the French side, Pierre Gasly manages to place his AlphaTauri in 5th position just ahead of the two Red Bulls, while the Renault team places its two RS20s in the top 10 just ahead of the Ferraris.
In difficulty with the rear end of his Red Bull and suffering from oversteer, Max Verstappen had to hand over to his mechanics 2 minutes before the end of the session.
At the checkered flag, the Mercedes dominate the other teams, making the most of a capricious Pirelli tire on this track.
Free Practice 1 Standings
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:29.033 | 40 | |
| 2 | Bottas | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:29.482 | +0.449 | 41 |
| 3 | Perez | BWT Racing Point F1 Team | 1:30.000 | +0.967 | 31 |
| 4 | Sainz Jr. | McLaren F1 Team | 1:30.018 | +0.985 | 31 |
| 5 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:30.049 | +1.016 | 34 |
| 6 | Verstappen | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | 1:30.294 | +1.261 | 18 |
| 7 | Albon | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | 1:30.302 | +1.269 | 34 |
| 8 | Ocon | Renault DP World F1 Team | 1:30.384 | +1.351 | 28 |
| 9 | Stroll | BWT Racing Point F1 Team | 1:30.426 | +1.393 | 30 |
| 10 | Ricciardo | Renault DP World F1 Team | 1:30.508 | +1.475 | 30 |
| 11 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:30.589 | +1.556 | 29 |
| 12 | Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:30.628 | +1.595 | 24 |
| 13 | Kubica | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:30.732 | +1.699 | 24 |
| 14 | Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | 1:30.832 | +1.799 | 28 |
| 15 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:30.854 | +1.821 | 29 |
| 16 | Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:30.896 | +1.863 | 27 |
| 17 | Kvyat | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:31.020 | +1.987 | 37 |
| 18 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:31.392 | +2.359 | 27 |
| 19 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1:32.472 | +3.439 | 29 |
| 20 | Nissany | Williams Racing | 1:32.801 | +3.768 | 27 |
