By: Formula 1 returns to Malaysia, which hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend. Here is what happened in the opening practice session.
FP1 summary
As the lights turned green, the drivers took to the track both to familiarise themselves with the circuit and to find some grip. With 50 minutes remaining, Max Verstappen moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1'39''400 on soft tyres, ahead of Russell and Leclerc, while Kimi Antonelli was fifth.
The track appeared very dirty from the opening minutes, with Leclerc coming on the radio to complain about the lack of grip. Max Verstappen appeared unaffected, improving his time by almost a second to hold a three-tenth advantage over George Russell. In the midfield, Pierre Gasly impressed in seventh, followed by Lawson and Lindblad. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10. Piastri and Norris were well down the order, in 11th and 12th respectively. At the chequered flag, Max Verstappen remained on top, followed by Russell and Hadjar. Leclerc was fourth and Hamilton sixth, with Antonelli sandwiched between the two Ferraris.
Short race-run simulations
The final part of the session was devoted to a short long run, with Verstappen, Hadjar and Leclerc on soft tyres, while Hamilton, Russell and Antonelli were on mediums. The drivers on the red-walled tyres showed a clearly stronger pace, particularly car number #3, which was consistently in the 1'44s. Leclerc posted similar times.
Mercedes struggled, particularly Russell rather than Antonelli, although both remained some way off the times set by rivals on soft tyres. Hamilton was a surprise: despite using the same compound as the Silver Arrows, he showed a markedly better pace, matching Verstappen, Hadjar and Leclerc. Lando Norris produced a late burst to stop the clock at 1'43.
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Bahrain GP 2026
