Formula 1 Bahrain GP
F1 Grand Prix practice results: Verstappen fastest in Bahrain GP on Friday
World champion Max Verstappen was fastest for Red Bull in Bahrain Grand Prix practice on Friday, ahead of the opening round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Mar 18, 2022, 6:57 PM
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Pierre Gasly was fastest in FP1 for AlphaTauri but Verstappen set the quickest time of the day – under the floodlights in FP2 – at 1m31.936s.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the chase, just 0.087s slower, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell. His teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth, complaining of porpoising and brake issues.
Read Also:
- Bahrain GP: Gasly quickest in first practice of F1 2022
- Bahrain GP: Verstappen leads Ferrari duo in FP2
Bahrain Grand Prix FP1 results: Gasly fastest from Leclerc
Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Pierre Gasly
23 1'34.193 206.843 2 Charles Leclerc
22 1'34.557 0.364 0.364 206.047 3 Carlos Sainz Jr.
23 1'34.611 0.418 0.054 205.929 4 George Russell
23 1'34.629 0.436 0.018 205.890 5 Max Verstappen
22 1'34.742 0.549 0.113 205.644 6 Lance Stroll
22 1'34.814 0.621 0.072 205.488 7 Lewis Hamilton
17 1'34.943 0.750 0.129 205.209 8 Fernando Alonso
14 1'35.000 0.807 0.057 205.086 9 Yuki Tsunoda
20 1'35.028 0.835 0.028 205.025 10 Sergio Perez
23 1'35.050 0.857 0.022 204.978 11 Guanyu Zhou
20 1'35.053 0.860 0.003 204.971 12 Esteban Ocon
15 1'35.151 0.958 0.098 204.760 13 Nicholas Latifi
15 1'35.644 1.451 0.493 203.705 14 Nico Hulkenberg
23 1'35.815 1.622 0.171 203.341 15 Alex Albon
17 1'35.923 1.730 0.108 203.112 16 Lando Norris
22 1'36.304 2.111 0.381 202.309 17 Daniel Ricciardo
20 1'36.402 2.209 0.098 202.103 18 Mick Schumacher
23 1'36.536 2.343 0.134 201.823 19 Kevin Magnussen
21 1'36.804 2.611 0.268 201.264 20 Valtteri Bottas
2 View full results
What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 1?
First practice took place in daytime, meaning it was not fully representative of either qualifying or the race, both of which will occur in cooler conditions in the evening.
The McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo set the early pace on, as the new-look 2022 cars were put through their paces in anger in an official F1 session for the first time.
A red flag was soon required to clean up the debris from Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, whose right sidepod came apart soon after he opened the DRS on the start/finish straight – showering the following Nico Hulkenberg’s Aston Martin with carbonfibre pieces.
The session resumed with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso going fastest on soft tyres, before Max Verstappen beat that by 0.464s using mediums – lapping in 1m34.783s and then 1m34.742s.
As more teams gravitated to running softs, George Russell’s Mercedes – which earlier lost a chunk of bodywork – went to the top on 1m34.629s, just as Charles Leclerc spun his Ferrari.
With 13 minutes to go, Gasly took P1 for AlphaTauri on 1m34.193s, followed by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who were both running mediums to Gasly’s softs.
Verstappen slipped back to fifth, but didn’t run softs at all like the Ferraris, but was ahead of those that did: Lance Stroll (Aston), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Sergio Perez’s Red Bull rounded out the top 10 with a time also set on mediums.
Bahrain Grand Prix FP2 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc
Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Max Verstappen
20 1'31.936 211.921 2 Charles Leclerc
20 1'32.023 0.087 0.087 211.720 3 Carlos Sainz Jr.
22 1'32.520 0.584 0.497 210.583 4 George Russell
25 1'32.529 0.593 0.009 210.563 5 Fernando Alonso
24 1'32.877 0.941 0.348 209.774 6 Valtteri Bottas
30 1'32.951 1.015 0.074 209.607 7 Sergio Perez
20 1'32.958 1.022 0.007 209.591 8 Mick Schumacher
24 1'33.085 1.149 0.127 209.305 9 Lewis Hamilton
23 1'33.144 1.208 0.059 209.172 10 Kevin Magnussen
23 1'33.183 1.247 0.039 209.085 11 Lando Norris
27 1'33.280 1.344 0.097 208.867 12 Esteban Ocon
25 1'33.360 1.424 0.080 208.688 13 Pierre Gasly
24 1'33.621 1.685 0.261 208.107 14 Yuki Tsunoda
26 1'33.789 1.853 0.168 207.734 15 Guanyu Zhou
27 1'33.953 2.017 0.164 207.371 16 Lance Stroll
25 1'33.958 2.022 0.005 207.360 17 Nico Hulkenberg
28 1'34.061 2.125 0.103 207.133 18 Daniel Ricciardo
12 1'34.166 2.230 0.105 206.902 19 Nicholas Latifi
28 1'34.486 2.550 0.320 206.201 20 Alex Albon
22 1'34.735 2.799 0.249 205.659 View full results
What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 2?
From the start of FP2 under the floodlights, Leclerc set the benchmark at 1m33.121s – already a second faster than Gasly’s FP1 time – on mediums. He led an early Ferrari 1-2 from Sainz, with Alonso third ahead of Alpine teammate Ocon.
Verstappen took P2 on his first flyer on mediums, 0.5s off Leclerc, while Hamilton took fifth but complained of porpoising on the straights. Valtteri Bottas jumped to P4 for Alfa Romeo, bouncing back from a troubled first session due to engine issues, ahead of a late-running Perez.
The soft tyres made an appearance as the halfway point loomed, with Kevin Magnussen going P2 for Haas, just 0.062s off Leclerc. Alonso briefly took over the top spot on softs, with 1m32.877s, while Sainz lapped 0.188s off that after running wide at the final two corners.
Leclerc retook his place at the head of the timesheet with 1m32.263s on softs, 0.6s clear, with Bottas surging to third and Perez taking fourth.
Verstappen reset the bar with 28 minutes to go, setting 1m31.936s that would remain the fastest lap of the day. Leclerc responded with 1m32.023s on his second push lap, just 0.087s slower.
Sainz pitted but later went third after taking another run on his softs, albeit 0.584s off the pace. Russell ended up fourth, ahead of Alonso, Bottas, Perez, Mick Schumacher (Haas), Hamilton and Magnussen.
FP1 pacesetter Gasly could only manage the 13th-quickest time, 1.685s off the pace.
Read Also:
- McLaren: F1 brake duct fix is “interim solution” at Bahrain GP
- F1 regulations tweaked to allow floor stays, heavier cars
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