Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Red Bull well ahead, Alonso very solid

Three months after the last Grand Prix, the 2023 Formula 1 season has indeed begun with the first free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which took place during the day.

The opportunity, one week after the pre-season tests, to observe certain teams with improvements, such as Mercedes with a new rear wing, an upgrade intended to address the lack of top speed noticed during the trials, or Alpine, which approaches the first three races with the pink of its title sponsor, BWT.

Even before the drivers had completed a single lap, the first investigation was regarding Lewis Hamilton, who was wearing jewelry, and he had to go to the FIA doctors to find out if he was allowed to go on track, which was indeed the case.

The Williams were the first to take to the track once the lights turned green, followed by the rest of the field. Absent from winter testing, Lance Stroll, back after his bicycle accident, could only complete two laps during the first part of the session due to an engine ignition problem.

Red Bull as favorite, Sainz with a 360.

With only 45 minutes available for each session, the teams went through day turns to find rhythm and establish strategies before the qualifying and the Sunday Grand Prix. The lap times quickly dropped with the first benchmark set by Lando Norris in 1.37.462 on medium tires, like all the other drivers. However, he was quickly overtaken in these early minutes by Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin, who improved the benchmark by two seconds before Sergio Perez took the lead with a time of 1.34.343 min.

The initial “scare” was for the Australian rookie with a big oversteer at turn 7, without any consequences for his McLaren and was able to continue his session.

At half-session, the top three were composed of Perez – Alonso and Hamilton. The Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, respectively fourth and seventh, were until now the only ones on soft tires.

Approaching turns 9 and 10, Carlos Sainz spun out, following a severe loss of control over a rumble strip as he was about to hit the brakes, completely degrading his set of medium tires.

Alonso solid, McLaren reassures itself.

In the second part of the session, most of the drivers started using the red-striped tires, and once again, the Mexican driver set the fastest sector times with a 1.32.758. At the same time, Stroll finally began his program with 27 minutes remaining in Free Practice 1, quickly climbing up to the top 6. In this first session, Alonso was the only one to challenge Red Bull’s lap times, confirming Aston Martin’s speed impressions during long runs.

Finally, apart from a straight line at the first corner, Lando Norris placed his McLaren in the top 4 at two seconds behind the leaders at the end of the session.

The second session will take place at night and can be watched from 15:40 on Canal+ Sport.

The ranking of the first free practice session