Bahrain GP, second practice: Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two with Verstappen sixth
Lewis Hamilton declared himself “much happier than last year” after Mercedes ended a turbulent first day of the 2024 season with a practice one-two.
In the same month that Hamilton announced he will quit Mercedes to join Ferrari, the 38-year-old would be forgiven for questioning if he has made the right decision.
Having spent two seasons off the pace and in Red Bull’s wake, Hamilton topped the timesheets at the end of second practice in Bahrain, and though he refused to get ahead of himself too early in the new season, he admitted the signs were good.
“We didn’t know exactly where we would stack up against everyone else, but we had a positive FP2 session,” Hamilton said.
“The car was feeling good, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We know there is more to extract, and our long-run pace isn’t in the fight with the Red Bulls.
“Overall though, I’m feeling much happier with the car than last year. We’ve made some good improvements and it feels much more like a race car. It’s a really good platform for us to build from. We just need to keep our heads down and keep chasing.”
Hamilton will move away from Mercedes after their 12th season together, leaving fellow British driver George Russell to lead the team alongside an as-yet unannounced replacement.
“We’re not going to get carried away after one day of practice,” said Russell, echoing Hamilton’s caution.
“Our qualifying pace did look strong. We made some changes from the test and the improvement exceeded our expectations. But ultimately our long-run pace is where it counts. Verstappen looked comfortably quickest, and it was very tight with the Ferraris, the McLarens, and the Aston Martins. So we’ve likely got a real fight on our hands there.
“Nevertheless, we’re pleased with how our day has gone; the car is performing well. We will sit down and understand where the main improvements came from and try to sustain that. We want to be fighting for good positions on Saturday night.”
The pleasure among the Mercedes camp was taken from the fact that reigning world champion Max Verstappen found himself half-a-second off Hamilton’s fastest time, in sixth place on the leaderboard – although the true potential of Red Bull’s 2024 challenger, the RB20, is unlikely to be seen until Friday afternoon’s qualifying session.
Verstappen romped to victory in Bahrain 12 months ago to begin the most dominant season ever witnessed in F1, with Red Bull claiming 21 of the 22 races, and he was not overly concerned with their lack of pace on Thursday.
“It was not too bad. It’s just very close,” Verstappen said, having spent large parts of the session complaining about his gear changes. “Maybe some people around us already turned their engine a bit in terms of top speed.
“We just focus on ourselves. There were a few little balance issues from front to rear but nothing big, it’s just about trying to find that sweet spot.”
Max isn't overly happy with the RB20, despite setting the fastest lap so far 😬💬 pic.twitter.com/x5G4RoAfhZ
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) February 29, 2024
Bahrain GP, Thursday practice: as it happened
04:19 PM GMT
I cannot say I expected to see a Mercedes 1-2 in FP2
But that is exactly what we have. Again, this is only FP3 and I think Red Bull have some time to find before qualifying. Whether that is in finding the right set-up or simply cranking their engine power up I am not sure. But nearly half a second is a fairly big gap. I would, of course, expect Verstappen to be up there challenging for pole. Last year his competition for the top spot on the grid only really came from Ferrari but there are hints he could be fighting from a few other teams.
As I said earlier, I think the fact that his best lap was fairly comparable to Hulkenberg’s Haas suggests something is up... but on the flip side his race simulation pace seemed the best of the field.
04:07 PM GMT
Verstappen complaining about the upshifts again
He does that a lot, at almost every race but it has been particularly vocal today. Actually, that is not far. Sometimes it is the downshifts he complains about.
04:03 PM GMT
FP2 - Classification
HAM 1:30.374
RUS +0.206
ALO +0.286
SAI +0.395
PIA +0.410
VER +0.477
HUL +0.510
STR +0.517
LEC +0.739
PER +0.741
ALB +0.959
RIC +1.142
SAR +1.341
MAG +1.390
TSU +1.507
GAS +1.577
BOT +1.627
OCO +1.653
ZHO +1.674
NOR +2.234
04:02 PM GMT
FP2 ends - Hamilton leads a Mercedes 1-2
And by a reasonable margin, especially over Red Bull. Hamilton does put in a 1:37.426 on his 13th lap on those soft tyres, but that is still 0.4sec of so off what Verstappen was doing at the same time.
03:59 PM GMT
FP2 - The order hasn’t changed really
As mentioned, everyone is on race simulations now.
03:57 PM GMT
FP2 - Hamilton onto the 10th lap on this tyre
And his lap times have dropped off significantly. Into the 1:39s now. Verstappen is 11 laps into his stint and just did a 1:36.9, so that suggests very much that the Red Bull is still very good in race trim. Not that we were expecting anything else.
03:54 PM GMT
FP2 - Russell clocking a 1:36.983sec...
...at a similar stage in his run to Verstappen and Hamilton earlier.
Hamilton had a slower lap in the 1min40s but then gets back into the low 1:37s. Verstappen, nine laps in to this stint, is still in the 1:36.6s...
03:50 PM GMT
FP2 - 11 minutes remain
Verstappen is six laps into a long run on the soft tyres and his latest was a 1:36.632. Hamilton is on a similar run (though no idea about the fuel loads) and his latest time was a 1:36.866.
03:45 PM GMT
Fastest sectors so far
No Red Bull in there.
⏱️ FASTEST SECTORS ⏱️
Piastri in a Mercedes sandwich 😋#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/1PTPZlUnWl— Formula 1 (@F1) February 29, 2024
What are we heading towards tomorrow, then? Is this Red Bull sandbagging only to take pole by 0.4sec tomorrow? I don’t know. In any case, the RB19 was not even the best car in qualifying towards the end of last year but it was comfortably in race trim, so it is not all about one-lap pace.
03:43 PM GMT
FP2 - Verstappen is still circulating on the softs
But his first sector is five seconds off Hamilton’s best so he has A LOT of fuel onboard. In other words: the race simulation runs have begun. Lando Norris must have made a mess of his flying lap as he’s well adrift of even Zhou in 19th.
03:37 PM GMT
FP2 - Order after those quick runs
HAM 1:30.374
RUS +0.206
ALO +0.286
SAI +0.395
PIA +0.410
VER +0.477
HUL +0.510
STR +0.517
LEC +0.739
PER +0.741
ALB +0.959
RIC +1.142
SAR +1.353
MAG +1.390
TSU +1.507
GAS +1.577
BOT +1.627
OCO +1.653
ZHO +1.674
NOR +2.234
03:35 PM GMT
FP2 - Russell makes it a Mercedes 1-2
He’s 0.206sec off Hamilton and about 0.250sec ahead of Verstappen, who has now been bumped down to fifth.
I mean, what is really fishy about that Red Bull time is that it is just 0.033sec faster than the Haas of Hulkenberg, as good as the German is over one lap.
03:33 PM GMT
FP2 - Before we all get too carried away
In FP2 in Bahrain last year Alonso was 0.169sec faster than Verstappen. Verstappen then took pole by roughly 0.15sec ahead of Perez before finishing the race 38 seconds ahead of the next-best non-Red Bull finisher.
Half a second is a fair chunk of time, though.
03:31 PM GMT
FP2 - Verstappen is roughly on Hamilton’s pace after one sector
But is nearly two tenths down after two sectors...
He loses another few tenths in the final sector and ends up fourth, nearly half a second down on Hamilton’s time.
Well, well, well...
03:30 PM GMT
FP2 - It’s a decent end to the lap for Hamilton
He goes fastest of anyone in the final sector to go faster still, with a 1:30.374 - beating his previous time by nearly four tenths. Perez then crosses the line 0.741sec behind Hamilton. Again, I wouldn’t get too excited at this point (let’s see what Verstappen does in a minute) but you would rather Hamilton be ahead of Perez by that much than the other way around.
03:27 PM GMT
FP2 - 33 minutes left
What can Hamilton do on his next flying lap? He’s fastest in the first sector and does his best second sector...
03:26 PM GMT
FP2 - Hulkenberg up into second
Not sure if that is because of track evolution at this time of day or because they are running much lighter on fuel. Anyway, he doesn’t stay there that long because Sainz and then Piastri move faster - both are now within a tenth, in fact half a tenth, of Hamilton’s fastest time earlier on.
03:23 PM GMT
FP2 - Alonso gets very lairy at turn four
It is windy out there, and that might explain it.
03:20 PM GMT
FP2 - Verstappen improves on his next flying lap
But he’s still 0.410sec behind Hamilton. McLaren and the RBs are a little further down the order as they have not used the soft tyres yet. But they used them in the first session, which explains their loft positions to some degree.
03:15 PM GMT
FP2 - “Big mistake” says Charles Leclerc
He gets very squirrelly on the exit of the final corner but keeps it going forwards. He asks the team to check the floor, though.
03:14 PM GMT
FP2 - Order after those first laps
HAM 1:30.751
ALO +0.284
LEC +0.420
VER +0.520
PER +0.645
SAI +0.825
STR +0.940
RUS +1.070
HUL +1.323
MAG +1.328
03:13 PM GMT
FP2 - Verstappen is on track
He’s 0.232sec down on Hamilton after two sectors. Both drivers on the soft tyres. He then loses another 0.3sec in the final sector and goes fifth, half a second slower than Hamilton. Interesting? Or not. Way too early to get bothered about that. Still, I’d rather have it this way round than the other...
03:08 PM GMT
FP2 - Alonso crosses the line in second
Just under three-tenths off Hamilton and about 0.65sec ahead of Stroll who crosses the line about 10 seconds after him.
03:08 PM GMT
FP2 - A good lap from Hamilton, he moves fastest
Very good, even at this early stage. It’s a 1:30.751, which is about a second off last year’s pole time. It is also 0.827sec ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in second. Verstappen has, for reference, yet to even leave the garage.
03:06 PM GMT
FP2 - Sainz completes his first fast lap
He has a couple of bites of the cherry at turn 13 and goes second.
03:05 PM GMT
FP2 - Hulkenberg leads the way so far
Admittedly, it is four minutes in. It’s a 1:32.139 but it’s the fastest of five drivers so far...
03:01 PM GMT
GREEN LIGHT: FP2 begins
Good. Let’s get going again.
🟢 FP2 GREEN LIGHT 🟢
Cars on track again 🙌#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/eydgusyn0u— Formula 1 (@F1) February 29, 2024
03:00 PM GMT
Things to watch here in this session
Everything, really – but primarily where the RBs are, where Mercedes and Ferrari are in comparison to a) each other and b) Red Bull.
02:57 PM GMT
We are nearly ready to go in FP2
As I’ve have mentioned before, this session runs at the same time as qualifying and the race, roughly speaking, so should give us a better idea as to how things stand at the start of 2022.
The sun goes down, the lights go up
FP2 is moments away! 🤩#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/yewtowve3Y— Formula 1 (@F1) February 29, 2024
02:48 PM GMT
Session times this weekend
For those of you just joining, a reminder of the session times for this weekend’s season-opening grand prix, given we are racing on Saturday.
Thursday February 29
First practice: 11.30am GMT
Second practice: 3pm
Friday March 1
Third practice: 12.30pm
Qualifying: 4pm
Saturday March 2
Bahrain Grand Prix: 3pm
02:39 PM GMT
F2 news: A bad day for two hotly-tipped drivers
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been tipped as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025 has qualified 18th for F2’s Bahrain GP sprint race. In fairness, it is his first qualifying in F2 and he did at least out-qualify his team-mate, Ferrari-backed Briton Oliver Bearman (a four-time F2 winner).
Kush Maini took pole for Invicta Virtuosi. Will we see another Indian driver in F1?
02:33 PM GMT
Welcome back
FP2 begins in a little under 30 minutes, so a few updates until then.
02:31 PM GMT
FP1 recap: Ricciardo fastest as Horner returns
By Luke Slater
Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest man in first practice for this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, with world champion Max Verstappen in sixth.
The session in Sakhir kicked off with Christian Horner in the F1 paddock for the first time since he was cleared of inappropriate behaviour by an independent investigation.
The Red Bull team principal was seen warmly embracing his driver Verstappen before the session. The Dutchman won all but three rounds of the 2023 season and is a huge favourite to secure a fourth world drivers’ title in the row in the RB20.
The timings and order of practice sessions should always be taken with some caution but especially so in Bahrain. Firstly, this was the opening session of the season and secondly because this particular session is run in unrepresentative conditions.
With qualifying and the race itself run at night, under floodlights, second practice at 3pm GMT will be a more useful gauge for the competitive order. In addition, most drivers did not set their fastest time on the quicker soft compound tyres.
Behind Ricciardo at the top for RB were McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri followed by the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda.
The Mercedes cars of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were seventh and ninth respectively but expect them – and the Red Bulls and Ferraris – to feature further up the order after FP2, which begins at 3pm.
12:44 PM GMT
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack speaks to Sky Sports F1
I think this session did not give us any more insight than the test did last week. We need to be patient, wait until Saturday and then we will know more. It was quite difficult wind conditions, it was stronger than last week... all in all I think it was a solid session and now we prepare the second one.
I hope on Saturday we will be the talk of the paddock but we have always been very realistic and humble. We are facing very strong competitors. It is not easy. We set our target over the winter to improve the car further and learn lessons from last year [so that we] have a strong platform for development. I am quite confident. If we will be the talk of the paddock we will see later this weekend.
12:42 PM GMT
Do not get too carried away with that, though
As I said earlier, this afternoon’s FP2 session will be run under lights (as will qualifying and the race) and that means teams are likely to be closer to 100 per cent. And that most teams did not run the soft compound tyres in first practice.
12:35 PM GMT
What did we learn from that hour of running?
I think a few hints have solidified since testing. Namely that Haas are very likely to be slowest and Alpine are struggling to be anything but the ninth fastest team. Other than that? Perhaps not a great deal. Maybe that the RB is a half decent car, too.
12:34 PM GMT
FP1 - Classification
RIC 1:32.869
NOR +0.032
PIA +0.244
TSU +0.314
ALO+0.324
VER +0.369
RUS +0.382
LEC +0.399
HAM +0.433
BOT +0.485
SAI +0.516
PER +0.544
ALB +0.714
STR +0.999
ZHO +1.054
SAR +1.344
OCO +1.938
GAS +2.275
MAG +4.608
HUL +5.069
12:32 PM GMT
FP1 ends - Ricciardo fastest
And that is it for the opening practice session of the 2024 F1 season. A full classification is coming up.
12:30 PM GMT
An encouraging session so far, I guess
Going by what we can see on the timesheets alone. A second separates the top 14 from Ricciardo down to Stroll. Again, a limited number of drivers have run on the faster soft compound tyre including (crucially) Red Bull.
Verstappen looks like he is on a high-fuel run as he crosses the line with a time that is some five seconds off the overall fastest...
12:25 PM GMT
A look at the bottom of the timesheets
It’s Haas bringing up the back of the pack with then Gasly, Ocon, Sargeant in the Williams, Zhou, Stroll and Albon. Haas are expected to be the slowest this weekend - and they even said so themselves - but Alpine are having a nightmare start to the season and may not be too far ahead of them.
12:22 PM GMT
FP1 - 10 mins remain
The order is still roughly as it was with the exception of Tsunoda in fourth, 0.314sec off team-mate Ricciardo at the top. A bit of a mixed field so far with some drivers setting their best time on the faster soft compound tyres.
12:17 PM GMT
FP1 - Hamilton on a high-fuel run
As shown by his lap time that was more than three seconds slower than Ricciardo’s best.
12:16 PM GMT
We’re seeing a few teams use the soft tyres
But not lots. In fact it’s just RB, McLaren and Sauber who have done so. 15 minutes left so we may or may not see the other seven teams burn through a set.. or they could save them for FP2 later in the day.
Replays show Verstappen “overtaking” Russell around the outside of T12 before Russell gets him down on the back straight.
12:11 PM GMT
FP1 - Speaking of the RB breaking free of the back of the pack
Ricciardo has just moved fastest in that car with a 1:32.869, 0.032sec ahead of Norris.
Also speaking of the RB... it is a handsome car:
12:08 PM GMT
FP1 - Lance Stroll has an enormous lock up at turn one
He will almost certainly have to pit again to change tyres, which he has now done.
"What a whopper!" 👀
Several drivers are struggling with the wind 💨 pic.twitter.com/WC7lt6JNom— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) February 29, 2024
12:06 PM GMT
FP1 - Norris moves top
It’s now a McLaren 1-2. Tsunoda is about to set his first soft-tyre lap. The talk is that the RB car this year will have broken free of that pack at the back and will be able to challenge in the midfield. It was a poor season for the then-Alpha Tauri team.
Tsunoda ends up third after the fastest first sector time. If the car can perform it’ll be interesting to see how Ricciardo performs in his first full season back in F1 after leaving McLaren.
12:03 PM GMT
The top 10 at just-over half-way
PIA 1:33.113
VER +0.422
RUS +0.636
PER +0.799
HAM +0.812
ALO +0.816
LEC +0.953
SAI +1.271
NOR +1.393
STR +1.551
Piastri set his time on the soft tyres, however. Norris has just moved onto the softs himself.
12:00 PM GMT
FP1 - Piastri has moved onto the soft tyres
He is the first to do so. And he goes fastest by 0.422sec over Verstappen. Again, a reminder that second practice is really the one to watch when it comes to lap times and the competitive order but first practice is better than pre-season testing, at leasy.
11:56 AM GMT
FP1 - 35 mins remain
Verstappen has moved top again, 0.2sec ahead of Russell.
11:50 AM GMT
FP1 - Alonso moves into fifth
Just under four-tenths off Verstappen’s time. Aston Martin started the season off as the second or third quickest team but gradually lost ground to Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.
It might be hard for them to make much of an impression on that pack this year but we wait and see.
11:47 AM GMT
FP1 - Times are improving
Russell is now top, 0.51sec ahead of Verstappen with Hamilton a little further behind. Verstappen is about to go top again, though...
Indeed he does, by 0.214sec. Alonso on a good lap too.
11:45 AM GMT
FP1 - Top 10 as it stands
It is a little closer now than it was when Verstappen crossed the line:
VER 1:33.900
HAM +0.025
PER +0.084
LEC +0.166
ALO +0.507
NOR +0.606
SAI +0.644
RUS +0.764
STR +0.764
TSU +0.873
Bottas, Zhou and Albon the three drivers who have yet to set a time.
11:44 AM GMT
FP1 - Perez moves to second
That makes it a Red Bull 1-2. There wasn’t so much of an issue with Perez not winning more than his two races (though, really he should be winning at least a couple more) last year but that too often he wasn’t even second behind Verstappen. A bit more of that this season would serve him well.
“Everything is ----, like, miles off,” says Verstappen on the radio. More worrying for F1 fans than perhaps him.
Max isn't overly happy with the RB20, despite setting the fastest lap so far 😬💬 pic.twitter.com/x5G4RoAfhZ
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) February 29, 2024
11:42 AM GMT
FP1 - 51 mins left
World Champion Verstappen is about to set a lap time. He’s fastest in the first two sectors and inevitably finishes the lap 0.644sec faster than second-placed man Carlos Sainz.
Hmmmmmmmm. How many more times will we see that this year? A lot, I suspect and fear.
11:38 AM GMT
FP1 - Let’s see what George Russell does on his first time lap
Car looks pretty heavy through turn 11. Hamilton has just gone fastest by 0.463sec over Perez before Leclerc slots on right behind him in second, less than a tenth of a second slower.
Russell then beats Leclerc to make it a Mercedes 1-2. How many times will we see that this season?
11:36 AM GMT
FP1 - Piastri setting the (very) early pace
His McLaren crosses the line with a 1:35.616 but Sergio Perez then beats that by over half a second. Not really worth paying too much attention to these times as it is. Leclerc gets a big snap on the exit of turn four and did well not to lose it.
11:33 AM GMT
FP1 - A problem for Zhou already
“My brake is not working,” the Sauber driver says in a manner that is perhaps a little too calm for that particular problem on an F1 car.
11:31 AM GMT
FP1 - 59 mins remaining
A fair few cars out there early on, as you would expect at this very, very early stage of the season.
11:30 AM GMT
GREEN LIGHT: The 2024 F1 season is under way!
Let’s get going, shall we?
11:26 AM GMT
The on-track action is about to begin
But just one more thing on Horner from Chief Sports Writer Oliver Brown: Christian Horner and Red Bull cannot move on until we know what happened.
11:21 AM GMT
How did the teams stack up in testing?
11:12 AM GMT
Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle on the Horner news and investigation
I don’t think it’s been helpful, I don’t think it will impact their performance much. I don’t think it will have helped it but they’ve got a brilliant car and team. They’ve got so much performance I don’t expect we’ll see [an effect] on track.
11:10 AM GMT
A reminder of the season ahead
It’s a long one and also contains six sprint races, which makes it even longer still. There is, mercifully, an unofficial “autumn break” (though no mandatory factory shutdown) of three weekends without a race between the Singapore Grand Prix on September 22 until the United States Grand Prix, which begins on October 18. There is also a three-week gap (two weekends with no race) between the Sao Paulo GP in Brazil on November 3 and then the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23.
11:02 AM GMT
Horner greets Verstappen in the Bahrain paddock today
10:53 AM GMT
The session timings for this “weekend”
Thursday February 29
First practice: 11.30am GMT
Second practice: 3pm
Friday March 1
Third practice: 12.30pm
Qualifying: 4pm
Saturday March 2
Bahrain Grand Prix: 3pm
10:48 AM GMT
What are the driver line-ups this year?
Red Bull (Honda RBPT)
Max Verstappen (No 1) and Sergio Pérez (No 11)
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (44) and George Russell (63)
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz (55) and Charles Leclerc (16)
Alpine (Renault)
Esteban Ocon (31) and Pierre Gasly (10)
McLaren (Mercedes)
Lando Norris (4) and Oscar Piastri (81)
Sauber (Ferrari)
Valtteri Bottas (77) and Guanyu Zhou (24)
Aston Martin (Mercedes)
Lance Stroll (18) and Fernando Alonso (14)
Haas (Ferrari)
Kevin Magnussen (20) and Nico Hulkenberg (27)
RB (Honda RBPT)
Yuki Tsunoda (22) and Daniel Ricciardo (3)
Williams (Mercedes)
Alexander Albon (23) and Logan Sargeant (2)
10:38 AM GMT
Watch: Horner speaks
Christian Horner tells Sky Sports News he is "focused on the season ahead" and says unity within Red Bull team has "never been stronger". pic.twitter.com/BJqMB8oPmj
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 29, 2024
10:32 AM GMT
Christian Horner has spoken to Sky Sports
They are his first public comment since being cleared.
Christian Horner has spoken for the first time since being cleared of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague, saying he was “pleased” the case was over.
The Red Bull team principal also declared that unity within the reigning Formula One world champions had “never been stronger” ahead of the first grand prix of the season in Bahrain on Saturday.
Horner was at the centre of a weeks-long investigation commissioned by Red Bull GmbH, the Austrian parent company of Red Bull Racing F1, following a complaint made by a female colleague.
A statement announcing the 50-year-old had been cleared was released at almost the exact moment he touched down in Bahrain at 3.30pm on Wednesday UK time.
“I’m just pleased that the process is over,” Horner told Sky Sports News ahead of free practice on Thursday.
“Obviously, I can’t comment about it, but we are here very much to focus now on the Grand Prix and the season ahead and trying to defend both of our titles.”
Asked if he thought it was the end of the matter, he added: “Well, I can’t give you any further comment. But the process has been conducted and concluded.”
Horner, who has been in charge of Red Bull since the team’s formation in 2005, was asked if he had any regrets.
“Again, I’m not going to be able to give you, I’m afraid, any further comments on it, but I’m pleased to be here in Bahrain and then with the team focused on the season ahead.”
Asked if the team is unified, he added: “Within the team, it has never been stronger.”
10:25 AM GMT
The 2024 season is about to begin...
Today is the day – the 2024 Formula One season kicks off properly with first and second practice for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. We’ve had three days of testing at the very same track a week ago but today we have the cars hit the track for the first time in anger.
The format of the first race “weekend” and the second one too are slightly different this year in that they run from Thursday until Saturday, with the main race taking place on Saturday. This is because Ramadan begins on Sunday March 10 and that would have clashed with the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in Jeddah next week, so that was moved to a Saturday. The regulations state that at least seven days must elapse between races so that means Bahrain was moved forward a day, too.
Despite testing last week, the biggest stories over the winter have been Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari and the investigation into Christian Horner at Red Bull over inappropriate behaviour. The latter of those has continued to this point, with Horner only yesterday being cleared. Will that be the end of it, though?
On track there is at least some intrigue as there is at the start of every F1 season, even if everyone expected Max Verstappen to clinch a fourth successive title. How much will we know about the competitive order come the end of second practice?
Well, there is definitely a large element of teams holding their true pace back or doing ‘glory runs’ in pre-season testing. There is also some degree of that in Friday practice, too, but because second practice is the only session that is run in similar conditions to qualifying tomorrow. So expect that we will have a far clearer idea of how things might shake out, but the true test comes in qualifying on Saturday.
It would be nice to see someone challenge Verstappen. The best hope is the man in the same car - Sergio Perez - but given how he drove last season it is difficult for him to sustain any kind of significant challenge. In any case, just because Verstappen might stroll to the race on Saturday, that does not mean he cannot be caught at some point in the season. The issue is that he will have likely built an unassailable lead by then...
Anyway, the hour-long first practice begins at 11.30am GMT and we will be here for all the updates as well as those from second practice at 3pm later in the day.