Bahrain – Free Practice 1: Vettel leads, Räikkönen and Vandoorne suffer engine failure!

Under radically different conditions from last weekend in China, Formula 1 arrives in the heat of the desert to kick off this weekend in Bahrain.

This first free practice session of the day naturally starts under a blazing sun and a temperature of around 36°C in the air. On the track, the tarmac is heated to about 47°C. The performance of the Pirelli tires will once again be the center of attention. For this race weekend, the Italian manufacturer is providing teams with its Medium, Soft, and Super Soft tires.

ICYMI: Here’s our #Fit4F1 preview to the #BahrainGP. https://t.co/XOLJmiKUYt pic.twitter.com/RP4ZGpoBDi

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) 13 avril 2017

Pascal Wehrlein returns to Sauber after missing the first two races of the season due to his back injury. The German had still participated in Friday’s session in Australia, so he shouldn’t be too lost in his car, having already done some laps under normal testing conditions.

At the beginning of the session, all the drivers take to the track and set an initial time. Some, like the Ferraris, use new parts and strive to make comparisons under the watchful eye of Pink Floyd’s drummer, Nick Mason.

The track record at Sakhir is currently held by Pedro de la Rosa, in a McLaren, with a time of 1:31.447. Since the beginning of the season, all records are falling. Will this one hold up? For now, the majority of drivers are lapping in 1 minute and 35 seconds. However, there is no doubt that times will continue to improve as the track rubbers in.

First drama after half an hour into the session: white smoke escapes from the rear of Kimi Räikkönen’s car. The Finn is forced to abandon his Ferrari at the side of the track and will probably not be able to resume the session. The team later confirmed that the issue was caused by an overheating turbo.

At mid-session, Lewis Hamilton leads the standings with a time of 1:34.636. He is ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, by 4 tenths, followed by Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, Felipe Massa, Max Verstappen, Romain Grosjean, Lance Stroll, and Sergio Pérez. It should be noted that only the top three set their times on Soft tires, while all others used Mediums.

But the rest of the field soon switch to Soft tires and lap times automatically begin to drop. Sebastian Vettel sets the benchmark of the moment with a 1:32.691, getting closer and closer to the track record. He is followed by the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo while the two Mercedes, which have not returned to the track, are in 10th and 14th positions.

The ordeal continues for McLaren with an engine problem forcing Stoffel Vandoorne to end his session. The Belgian is ranked 13th with a time of 1:34.997, six-tenths behind his teammate Fernando Alonso who is in a promising 8th position.

Trouble for VAN at Turn 10

He’s out of his McLaren and his session looks over#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #FP1 pic.twitter.com/TM5MCAo8Z0

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 avril 2017

In the final sprint of the last 10 minutes, Felipe Massa loses control of his Williams in turn number 13 but still manages to get back on track. A brake issue appears to be the cause of this maneuver by the Brazilian.

A little further down, the two Renault drivers, Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer, are positioned in the second half of the table and seem to be struggling to find the right balance with their car.

The ranking will not change, and the session therefore ends with Sebastian Vettel’s best time, ahead of the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Mercedes drivers kept a low profile during this first session and are only in distant 10th and 14th places.