Summary of the first Friday of the season in Bahrain

The first Friday of the new Formula 1 season is over. Max Verstappen led the timesheets, and Red Bull Racing also had the upper hand in the long runs. McLaren also had two strong sessions: Lando Norris in particular did well, finishing third and second respectively.

For starters, all practice sessions are now only one hour long, whereas the first two used to take an hour and a half. This meant that there was immediate action on track, with many teams not wanting to waste a minute.

Immediate track action with shortened sessions

The first practice session ended with a diverse top six, made up of no less than five different constructors. Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and AlphaTauri were all there. Red Bull Racing took first place with Max Verstappen setting a time of 1: 31.394, followed by Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.

The second session also saw a lot of action, with again a lot of drivers going straight to the track. Now it was time for the long runs, to test the race pace for Sunday. The first incidents of the season also took place: Nikita Mazepin spun, and Kimi Raikkonen ended up in the tire barrier, marking the first crash of the season.

The second session also ended with Verstappen in first place. He was also the fastest in the long runs, but here the difference with Lewis Hamilton was considerably smaller.