Bahrain – Free Practice 1: Massa and Ferrari Mark Their Territory

In Bahrain, it’s unsurprisingly a sparkling sun that covers the Sakhir circuit with an ambient temperature of 32°C. At Marussia, Jules Bianchi has given up his seat to the team’s third driver, Rodolfo Gonzales, while Heikki Kovalainen has been called in by Caterham for support to help with the development of the CT03, replacing Giedo van der Garde.

From the start of the session, Esteban Gutiérrez is the first to take to the track at the wheel of his Sauber to complete his installation lap. However, the drivers are slow to start the clock, with Ferrari even announcing on Twitter that it would wait half an hour before sending its drivers out to attack the timesheet.

And indeed, it takes nearly twenty-five minutes to see the first reference time appear on the control screens at 1:42.500 for Nico Hülkenberg, with the Hard orange sidewall tires: the German, like most of the drivers, is evaluating the aerodynamic updates brought to the C32. For his part, Nico Rosberg returns to the pits, noting that his Mercedes F1 W04 sounds strange, especially when downshifting.

After half an hour of trials, Kimi Räikkönen immediately climbs to the top of the timesheet on his first timed lap with a 1:35.553. The Finn is displaced a few minutes later by Jenson Button, with a 1:35.305.

At mid-session, Sebastian Vettel is the first to go under one minute thirty-five on Hard tires, with a time of 1:34.978. The German is ahead of Adrian Sutil, Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen, Sergio Pérez, Pastor Maldonado, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Pic, Esteban Gutiérrez, Heikki Kovalainen, Max Chilton, Rodolfo Gonzales, and Nico Hülkenberg.

With a new chassis, Romain Grosjean sets off to attack the clock and makes it into the Top 10 from his first fast lap, something Fernando Alonso does not do, as he remains last, more than fifteen seconds behind the best time. At the front, Nico Rosberg takes the best time with 1:34.621, quickly beaten by the Spaniard with 1:34.564.

A few minutes later, Felipe Massa takes over from his team leader at the top of the timesheet with a 1:34.487, still on Hard tires. However, the Brazilian’s time holds until the checkered flag, as most drivers push their sets of Hard tires, possibly with more fuel, to evaluate their endurance since they will have to return them to Pirelli after this first practice session.

At the checkered flag, the Ferrari drivers thus finish in the lead, ahead of Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and Paul di Resta. As the first French driver, Romain Grosjean ranks tenth, just behind his teammate. Returning to the wheel of the Caterham, Heikki Kovalainen falls short by nearly six-tenths of a second to Charles Pic but is ahead of the Marussia team.

Free Practice 1 Standings of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix: