Bahrain – Free Practice 1: Hamilton starts well

Naturally, under sunny skies and with ambient temperatures already flirting with 30°C, the first drivers take to the track for the traditional installation laps, giving them the chance to reacquaint themselves with the circuit they haven’t visited in two years – three years in this configuration – and especially to assess the real grip conditions. On the drivers’ side, Bruno Senna once again gives up his seat to Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ reserve driver, for this first free practice session.

However, it takes more than 20 minutes to see Nico Hülkenberg set the first timed lap of the session at 1:35.544, which is immediately improved upon by his teammate, Paul di Resta, with a time of 1:35.194. Romain Grosjean, however, doesn’t take long to outshine the two Force India drivers by recording a lap at 1:34.847. But several drivers on the track repeatedly struggle with braking, notably because of sand on the track.

As the session approached its midpoint, Kimi Räikkönen displaced his teammate from the top of the timesheet before he, in turn, had to yield to the attacks of Sebastian Vettel, who claimed the fastest time with a 1:34.311 before improving it to 1:33.877.

At mid-session, Vettel leads Schumacher, Webber, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Di Resta, and Perez. Only the Marussia and McLaren drivers have not set timed laps, but Jenson Button quickly rectifies this by moving up to 4th place on his first flying lap. Lewis Hamilton does better by claiming the second-fastest time, just 56 thousandths behind Sebastian Vettel, after recording the fastest time in the first sector. The Brit further improves the first sector by 3 tenths on his next attempt and places his McLaren at the top of the timing sheet with a lap of 1:33.572.

As Paul di Resta is told to deactivate the KERS, Ferrari confirms its traction issues on Twitter, with the Scuderia drivers only occupying the 13th and 14th provisional places: « Both drivers are struggling with the tires ». In every corner, the F2012 indeed seems to give way under Fernando Alonso’s steering.

At the start of the last quarter of an hour of testing, no driver has yet fitted the soft tires, most are focusing on long stints with medium tires. Paul di Resta is the first driver to try his luck with the yellow Pirelli P Zero: the Scot moves from 9th to 3rd place. Nico Hülkenberg follows suit but does not improve his best time.

A few minutes later, Timo Glock causes a brief yellow flag after a spin while Lewis Hamilton observes the end of the session from the pit wall – in front of nearly empty stands. Except for the Force India drivers, no one ventured onto the track with soft tires, probably to save them as track conditions are expected to improve over the weekend.

The best time of the 2008 world champion is not contested under the checkered flag. Lewis Hamilton is ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Paul di Resta, the only driver to set his personal best time on soft tires. Nico Rosberg, winner of the last Grand Prix, is 4th and precedes Jenson Button while Räikkönen, 9th, is ahead of Grosjean.

Free Practice 1 Standings of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix: