Sebastian Vettel has started the weekend on top ahead of the Red Bulls for the first free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The session started with the drivers testing the medium tyres, with the Mercedes and Vettel ahead. Halfway through the session, the Mercedes were on top ahead of Sainz. They were the only ones who had set a timed lap with the soft compound. Räikkönen‘s Ferrari stopped on track after white smoke started coming out of the back of the car, putting an early end to his session.
The engine of Vandoorne‘s McLaren stopped with 20 minutes to go right after he set a timed lap. Massa spun in the last minutes of the session due to overheating in the brakes. Vettel ended the session with the fastest time, 4 tenths ahead of Ricciardo and almost 1 second faster than Verstappen on 3rd. Pérez, Massa, Stroll, Ocon, Alonso, Grosjean and Hamilton completed the top 10.