#F1 #BahrainGP FP1: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of #Gasly, @LewisHamilton.
Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, Free Practice 1, Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. Image credit to Clive Rose/Getty Images. Norris Bahrain GP FP1, Bahrain GP FP1, Formula 1 Bahrain FP1.
Norris Bahrain GP FP1 – McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the time-sheets in the opening FP1 session at the Bahrain GP and ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who was second and Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton who completed the top three.
Friday’s opening 60-minute session – on a circuit drivers are most familiar with – was an opportunity for six teams to give their younger drivers a run in their cars, which they now need to do at four Grands Prix throughout the season.
Former F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich was the high profile replacement for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin – with Ayumu Iwasa in place of reigning world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Frederick Vesti was substituting George Russell at Mercedes, Dino Beganovic in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari SF-25 for the session and Haas putting in Ryo Hirakawa who took Oliver Bearman’s seat for FP1 and at Williams Luke Browning in place of Carlos Sainz.
Vesti in particular, suffered a few lock-ups into turn one and ten as he got running in the F1 W16 racer.
Norris lead the early proceedings, posting a 1:35.249 on the medium compounds, which initially went unchallenged, but was still six seconds adrift of Sainz’s benchmark effort at pre-season testing at the same track.
Sainz’s Williams team-mate Alexander Albon was Norris’s closest rival, getting within a tenth of the Briton running to a 1:35.180 also on the yellow-marked rubber, with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto taking P1 at the halfway point of the session, clocking a 1:34.628 o the C3 red softer tyre.
Bortoleto and Gasly then lead a heap of tours on the Pirelli’s softer compound, before Norris jumped to the head of the times on a 1:33.204 in-front of Gasly, Albon and Haas’s Esteban Ocon.
At this part of proceedings Ferrari or Mercedes had not run the softer rubber, Hamilton saved his best flyer for last to take third place in the classification behind Norris and Albon as the Prancing Horse tested a major update of the underfloor and diffuser.
Hamilton relegated Albon to fourth, Ocon followed in fifth as Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Jack Doohan took sixth and seventh in the classification.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was eighth as Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and McLaren’s Piastri rounded out the top ten runners.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto finished opening practice outside the top ten in 11th and ahead of Racing Bulls’ Hadjar who ended the session 12th and Williams’ rookie Browning and Ferrari’s youngster Beganovic who were 13th and 14th respectively. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 15th in the order.
Aston Martin’s Drugovich placed 16th and in-front of Haas’s Hirakawa who took 17th as Mercedes’ Vesti and Red Bull’s Iwasa were 18th and 19th respectively.
Mercedes regular Andrea Kimi Antonelli brought up the rear in the other F1 W16 Silver Arrow and only done three tours due to a power issue.
You can see the full Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1257/bahrain/practice/1
