#F1 #BahrainGP FP1: @danielricciardo pips @LandoNorris by 0.032s.

Ricciardo Bahrain GP FP1 – Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo topped the opening FP1 session of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season at the Bahrain GP, ahead of McLaren pairing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

In a session that is not representative of the conditions of what qualifying, and the race will be contested in, Ricciardo set the benchmark of a 1:32.869 on the C3 Pirelli red side-walled Soft tyre, pipping Norris by 0.032 seconds and Piastri was a further 0.244 adrift in third whilst the former’s RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was 0.314 seconds off in fourth. The top four ran the softer compounds along with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas who placed tenth in the order.

The majority of the pack headed out immediately at the beginning of the opening 60-minute session where windy conditions prevailed in relatively cooler temperatures at the Bahrain International Circuit – with all the early running on the yellow C2 Medium rubber – the C2 variety at last week’s pre-season test.

The big number of cars on circuit early saw top spot changed regularly through the first phase of proceedings, before reigning world champion Max Verstappen took Red Bull to P1.

The Dutchman had been waiting the longest in the pits before joining the rest at the end of the opening ten minutes of running.

Verstappen hit the top, posting a 1:33.900 compared to the 1:38.955 that Hass F1’s Nico Hulkenberg had registered as the opening benchmark as he lead the pack out the pits initially.

The Red Bull duo made brief stops in the pits for front wing flap adjustments to their RB20’s to aid the car’s handling, as Verstappen complained that it felt “miles off”.

After both Mercedes drivers continued to find more gains as their initial stints continued, Sir Lewis Hamilton got to 0.025 seconds of Verstappen’s leading effort before George Russell knocked the Red Bull driver off the P1 slot, setting a 1:33.748.

But that gap lasted only a few moments as Verstappen snatched the top of the leaderboard again on a 1:33.535 before most drivers returned to their respective garages and a lull in action followed.

The order as the midway point approached as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez followed the initial frontrunners, with Hamilton behind and ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Ferrari pairing lead by Charles Leclerc.

Before the half hour mark hit, Piastri was the first to switch to the softs, and pushed to set the benchmark of a 1:33.113, 0.422 seconds ahead of Verstappen’s previous effort.

Norris then followed his McLaren team-mate and produced his own soft flying lap just after the halfway point to go top on a 1:32.901, as the previous frontrunners returned to the track, but on the medium compounds.

Hamilton, Leclerc and Perez rapidly posted better efforts on the mediums, but not enough to depose the McLaren duo, whilst other team’s switching to the softs also had their drivers move ahead.

Tsunoda’s initial flyer on the softs put him fourth behind Piastri, whilst in the other RB entry, Ricciardo claimed top spot with the softs, posting a 1:32.869.

Verstappen finally improved on his effort with the mediums, slotting in ahead of Russell and Leclerc, but behind the leading soft runners at this phase, after complaining about a “positive torque” problem with his engine.

After another break in action, most of the field headed out again for a final blast, but still the early frontrunners instead of running the softs, instead continued their focus on long race run data gathering and were several seconds off the pace.

This meant the order at the top remained stable, leaving a final top 10 behind the top four of Alonso 0.324 seconds adrift of Ricciardo’s session-topping benchmark in fifth and three-time world champion Verstappen taking sixth for Red Bull and Mercedes’ Russell seventh.

Ferrari’s Leclerc was eighth and ahead of Mercedes’ Hamilton who placed ninth and the aforementioned Sauber of Bottas who completed the top 10.

The other SF-24 entry of Carlos Sainz finished FP1 outside the top ten in 11^th place and in-front of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who took 12^th in the classification.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant placed 13^th and 16th respectively as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu split the pairing in 14^th and 15^th.

Alpine duo Ocon and Gasly ended opening practice in 17^th and 18^th as Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1229/bahrain/practice-1.html

#F1 Gulf Air #BahrainGP and 2024 Season Preview. #Formula1 #F1sBack