Red Bull Racing (RB) driver Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time in the first practice session for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Australian outpaced McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim the top position at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Yuki Tsunoda securing fourth place in the other RB. All four drivers utilised the softest available tyres to achieve their best lap times.
The session began busily, with most drivers initially opting for the C2 compound medium tyres. The lead changed hands frequently as drivers swiftly improved their times. Defending World Champion Max Verstappen initially stayed in the Red Bull garage but emerged after 10 minutes, quickly taking the lead with a lap time of 1:33.900.
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were making progress, with Hamilton getting within three hundredths of a second of Verstappen. However, Russell managed to find more pace, posting a time of 1:33.749 and pushing Verstappen to second place.
Verstappen regained the lead with a lap time of 1:33.535 shortly after. At the halfway mark, Oscar Piastri switched to the C3 Soft tyres, claiming the top spot with a time of 1:33.113. Norris then surpassed him with a lap time of 1:32.901 on soft tyres. Tsunoda's first lap on soft tyres placed him third, but Daniel Ricciardo, his teammate, secured the top spot with a soft-shod time of 1:32.869.
In the fifth position on the timesheet, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin followed, while Verstappen settled in behind him using Medium tyres, setting a best time of 1:33.238, trailing leader Ricciardo by 0.369 seconds.
Verstappen was followed by Russell, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Hamilton, and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who completed the top 10 and also set his best time on Soft tyres.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1: Daniel Ricciardo RB - 1:32.869 23 209.792
2: Lando Norris McLaren - 1:32.901 0.032 25 209.720
3: Oscar Piastri McLaren - 1:33.113 0.244 25 209.242
4: Yuki Tsunoda RB - 1:33.183 0.314 24 209.085
5: Fernando Alonso Aston Martin - 1:33.193 0.324 20 209.062
6: Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing - 1:33.238 0.369 21 208.962
7: George Russell Mercedes - 1:33.251 0.382 25 208.932
8: Charles Leclerc Ferrari - 1:33.268 0.399 24 208.894
9: Lewis Hamilton Mercedes - 1:33.302 0.433 22 208.818
10: Valtteri Bottas Sauber - 1:33.354 0.485 21 208.702
11: Carlos Sainz Ferrari - 1:33.385 0.516 26 208.633
12: Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing - 1:33.413 0.544 24 208.570
13: Alexander Albon Williams - 1:33.583 0.714 17 208.191
14: Lance Stroll Aston Martin - 1:33.868 0.999 20 207.559
15: Zhou Guanyu Sauber - 1:33.923 1.054 16 207.438
16: Logan Sargeant Williams - 1:34.213 1.344 19 206.799
17: Esteban Ocon Alpine - 1:34.807 1.938 21 205.503
18: Pierre Gasly Alpine - 1:35.144 2.275 24 204.775
19: Kevin Magnussen Haas - 1:37.477 4.608 25 199.874
20: Nico Hülkenberg Haas - 1:37.938 5.069 27 198.934
