The F1 season has begun with the opening day of practice at the Bahrain International circuit. Drivers have returned to the track to test their car’s performance before they head into qualifying on Saturday.
The champions of the 2022 season, Red Bull, led the time sheets with Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin chasing them in the timesheets. Fernando Alonso had set the fastest time when the practice session began. Although Red Bull’s Sergio Perez soon beat his lap time.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had almost ended his practice run with a big spin on medium tyres at Turn 9 of the track. This could have resulted from the Scuderia running the car too low and jumping over the kerb.
In overall practice performance, Mercedes’ performance did not improve, with the Silver Arrows opting to stick with the medium tyres. In the latter part of the practice session, Aston Martin made a few changes to Alonso’s car, which saw him jump back to second. The Spaniard was only 0.438s off the pace of Perez.
F1 FP1 Results Bahrain GP 2023
| Driver | Team | Time |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:32.758 |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.438 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.617 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.407 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.499 |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.540 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1.644 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +1.817 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.931 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +2.159 |
Also Read: Red Bull Boss Has Just Five Words In Response To Mercedes Rival’s Venomous Attack
F1 FP2 Results Bahrain GP 2023
The FP2 session started with Aston Martin flexing itself on the board. Fernando Alonso, who exhibited exceptional pace with his 2023 car during the preseason testing, concreted the Silverstone-based team’s threat by finishing P1 in the standings.
Meanwhile, things looked pretty worrisome for Red Bull as Max Verstappen informed heavy bouncing on his car compared to test sessions. Nevertheless, the Red Bull duo stayed behind Alonso in this session, meaning their problems were minor.
Now, with the first day of the Grand Prix over, the entire grid would be eyeing to get their objectives right before the first race of the season. But till then, the results from free practice 2 are as follows.
| Driver | Team | Time |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:30.907 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.169 |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.171 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.460 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +0.469 |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.543 |
| Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.568 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.636 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.663 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +0.679 |
