Ferrari and Red Bull confirm during the first free practice, Pierre Gasly in the game

First race weekend in Bahrain. After winter testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, the single-seaters were back on track on the Sakhir circuit on Friday March 18 for the first free practice of the season: one hour at the start of the afternoon then another at night. of the Arabian Peninsula. A second session at the same time as Saturday’s qualifying session and the first Grand Prix of the 2022 season on Sunday.

FP2 CLASSIFICATION #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/WLi1iMybvK

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022

Red Bull and Ferrari confirmed the good form shown in testing. The Scuderia set the second and third fastest times in both sessions, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the second session of the day, being the only one to go under 1’32, approaching the qualifying times of last season.

The sensation of the day was during the first free practice session with the best time of Pierre Gasly in front of the two Ferraris. “We were surprised that it worked so well”reacted the Normand at the microphone of Canal+. Less efficient when the temperature fell with a thirteenth place during the second session, the Alpha Tauri driver is questioning himself before the qualifications which will take place in these conditions. “We will have to work tonight to understand”he added.

We’re into the final 10 minutes of our first session!@PierreGASLY is the man to beat with a time of 1:34.193 ⛽️#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/gHfQi8JrPK

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022

Mercedes, which seemed in difficulty during the tests, reassured itself with George Russell who took fourth place in the two sessions. Lewis Hamilton, for his part, still struggled to get to grips with this new car. Seventh and ninth of the two sessions, the Briton still seems to be breaking in his car. He will have to correct the situation on Saturday, to get closer to pole position.