F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Ricciardo Leads FP1 Session for RB, McLaren Close Behind

During the first practice session for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo of the RB team was in first place, with McLaren'sLando Norris and Oscar Piastri following closely behind. The 2024 F1 session has finally started with the FP1 of the Bahrain Grand Prix with the pit lane's end green light came on, signalling the beginning of the campaign. Riding on Pirelli's medium compound tyres, the ten teams and twenty drivers wasted little time getting out on the circuit.

With the quickest laps recorded by all three drivers on Pirelli's softest tyre, Ricciardo took first place, edging out his McLaren competitors by only 0.032 seconds. Yuki Tsunoda, who was riding on soft tyres like Ricciardo, finished in fourth place. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished sixth, while Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso took first among drivers using medium tyres.

During the session, Verstappen expressed his discontent with the new Red Bull RB20, stating that it had "very bad" downshifts and upshifts and a "really weird" throttle delivery. He was frustrated because his new RB20 setup was "miles off" even though he had set the early pace.

George Russell, the quickest Mercedes driver, finished eighth, 0.382 seconds behind Ricciardo's best time. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished eighth, while Valtteri Bottas and seven-time world winner Lewis Hamilton completed Sauber's top ten.

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: FP1 Result

Using his soft tyres, Valtteri Bottas passed Carlos Sainz's Ferrari and Sergio Perez's Red Bull to secure tenth place. The Williams driver with the fastest lap time was Alex Albon, who came in thirteenth. Lance Stroll, who was just 0.999 seconds behind Ricciardo, finished fourteenth.

Zhou Guanyu, who also chose soft tyres for the second Kick Sauber, recovered from early brake problems to finish fifteenth. Three Alpines—Pierre Gasly's and Esteban Ocon's—and Williams' Logan Sargeant—who finished seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, respectively.

After a managerial shakeup in the offseason, Haas started the season as expected in nineteenth and twentieth positions, with Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen apparently focusing on longer run pace again.