Bahrain – FP1: Räikkönen and Ferrari dominate in the heat

Even before the start of this first free practice session of the 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix, Lotus announced that Jolyon Palmer would replace Romain Grosjean in the E23. This is the second time, after China, that the Frenchman has to give up his place on a Friday morning.

The weather is clear, and the sun shines abundantly on the Sakhir track, which has little wind. As the majority of drivers head out for their setup lap, Jenson Button sees his McLaren break down in the first corner, named “Michael Schumacher.” The Briton is forced to abandon his car, which is brought back to his pit.

In the first quarter-hour, Nico Rosberg is the first to set a time of 1:40.077, with his teammate following more than a second behind. Only the two Mercedes seem capable of running consistently at the start of this session.

After half an hour, other teams take to the track such as Sauber with Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, Manor with Will Stevens and Roberto Mehri, and Williams with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. The latter sets the best time with 1.39.206 ahead of Ericsson, soon beaten by 4 thousandths by Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari, who will nevertheless be forced to stop due to an engine problem. As a result, Kimi Räikkönen takes his teammate’s place at the top of the time sheet. The laps continue for all the drivers who have now taken to the track, and an initial hierarchy is established behind the Finn.

After a much-needed break for the drivers to escape the heat, the track activity resumes with the two Mercedes, which, despite significant improvements in lap time, do not seem to be aiming for the best time at the moment.

The two Force India cars show promise with Sergio Perez setting the fastest time and Nico Hülkenberg in third, about 0.4 seconds behind his teammate. On new medium tires, Fernando Alonso achieves the feat of placing his McLaren in the top position, which doesn’t last long as the Spaniard is immediately beaten by Max Verstappen in his Toro Rosso.

We begin the last half-hour of this first practice session and no team has yet fitted the soft tires. Track activity is accelerating and everyone wants to achieve the best time, taking advantage of the difficulty Mercedes is having under this intense heat to fully exploit their performance.

Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas exchange the lead, but it is ultimately in the final minutes that the best time is set. This is achieved by Kimi Räikkönen ahead of his teammate Vettel, while the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton end up in surprising 15th and 16th positions, without trying to fight in the heat.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2015 – Free Practice 1: