LIVE: FP1 ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix - Russell makes his debut for Mercedes

A week on from the Bahrain Grand Prix and the first free practice for the Sakhir Grand Prix is upon us. The drivers have stayed at the same location over the week. But the layout of the circuit has changed. Follow all the action from Bahrain live here with GPblog's live blog.

FP1 Liveblog 

The 2020 Formula 1 season is slightly different from previous years. We have had fewer races which have all been close together. The coronavirus has changed the schedule of Formula 1 quite a bit, but despite the fact F1 only returned in July, we are already at race number 16.

George Russell in the Mercedes

On Monday, Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19. The 2020 World Champion is therefore forced to sit on the sidelines in quarantine. It's unsure whether the Brit will make a recovery in time for the final race of the season next weekend. In the meantime, George Russell moves up to the Mercedes team and will be replacing his fellow countryman. Russell will partner up with Valtteri Bottas . 

As a result, this leaves Russell's seat at Williams available for 25-year-old Jack Aitken. He will team up with Nicholas Latifi in Bahrain this weekend. 

And Romain Grosjean will not be racing after sustaining second-degree burns to his hands in his crash on lap one of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pietro Fittipaldi will be replacing Grosjean for the race this weekend. Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, makes his Formula 1 debut. 

Outer Loop in Bahrain

The F1 season has flown by. Bahrain is the first track where a different layout will be used. For the second race in Sakhir, the Outer Loop is used, with which the drivers take the outside of the original circuit. You'd presume this is longer, but due to the lack of corners, the drivers will set a lap time of less than a minute here. We will be able to see how quickly it can be done during this first free practice session.