Sakhir Grand Prix - Free practice 1: Seb eighth, Charles tenth

Going into free practice for the Sakhir Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit’s Outer Track, the expectation was for the lowest lap times in the history of Formula 1 and that was exactly the case. The first session saw all twenty drivers running well under the one minute barrier, with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc setting the eighth and tenth fastest times respectively.

Soft tyres. Both Scuderia Ferrari men stuck with the softest tyre for the whole session: Seb did 40 laps, five more than his team-mate. The German’s best time was a 55”281 while the Monegasque posted a 55”449.

Traffic. As expected, the track evolved quickly with every passing lap putting more rubber down. The new sector is clearly quick but also rather bumpy which, along with the expected problem of having to deal with traffic, made life difficult for the drivers.

Programme.  The second free practice session starts at 20.30 (18.30 CET) with tomorrow’s action getting underway at 17 (15 CET) for the final practice prior to qualifying which begins at 20 (18 CET.) The race gets underway on Sunday at 20.10 (18.10 CET.)