Lewis Hamilton Fastest On Opening Day Of 2024 F1 Season

Lewis Hamilton led the field in the second free practice session of the FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, ending up a notable two-tenths of a second ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell, while reigning World Champion Max Verstappen trailed in sixth position.

As the session got underway, the drivers took to the track with a selection of Soft and Medium tires, with several top contenders choosing the Soft C3 tires with red sidewalls. Sergio Pérez of Red Bull initially set the pace with a lap time of 1:31.629, but Charles Leclerc soon eclipsed that in his Ferrari SF-24, clocking in at 1:31.578. However, Hamilton swiftly outperformed them both, securing the lead with a lap of 1:30.751. Fernando Alonso managed to wedge himself between the initial leaders with a time of 1m31.035s. Nevertheless, Hamilton kept on improving, and the seven-time world champion ultimately notched a time of 1:30.374, clinching the top position definitively.

Down the line, Verstappen’s initial lap fell half a second short of Hamilton’s leading time, and despite improving on the same set of tires, he didn’t climb significantly up the leaderboard, concluding in sixth place with his best time of 1:30.851.

Right behind Hamilton, Russell secured second place, recording a time of 1:30.580 on his second stint with Soft tires, which left him 0.206 seconds behind his teammate. Alonso clinched third place, just 0.080 seconds adrift of Russell, and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari grabbed fourth with a lap of 1:30.769, narrowly edging out Oscar Piastri of McLaren by 0.015 seconds, with Verstappen 0.477 seconds behind Hamilton.

After these initial performance laps in the first half-hour, the session transitioned to longer runs. Nico Hülkenberg of Haas claimed the seventh spot, a mere 0.030 seconds behind Verstappen, while Lance Stroll of Aston Martin took eighth, trailing Hülkenberg by just 0.007 seconds. Rounding out the top ten were Leclerc and Pérez, followed by Alex Albon of Williams, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in twelfth place ahead of Logan Sargeant in the second Williams car.

Lewis Hamilton

‘It was very windy in FP1, and the track was very different to during the test. We didn’t know exactly where we would stack up against everyone else, but we had a positive FP2 session. The car was feeling good, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We know there is more to extract, and our long run pace isn’t in the fight with the Red Bulls.
 
‘Overall though, I’m feeling much happier with the car than last year. We’ve made some good improvements and it feels much more like a race car. It’s a really good platform for us to build from. We just need to keep our heads down and keep chasing.’

George Russell

‘We’re not going to get carried away after one day of practice. Our qualifying pace did look strong. We made some changes from the test and the improvement exceeded our expectations. But ultimately our long run pace is where it counts. Verstappen looked comfortably quickest, and it was very tight with the Ferraris, the McLarens, and the Aston Martins. So we’ve likely got a real fight on our hands there.
 
‘Nevertheless, we’re pleased with how our day has gone; the car is performing well. We will sit down and understand where the main improvements came from and try to sustain that. We want to be fighting for good positions on Saturday night.’

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director

‘Following the test we were most concerned about our single lap pace. We had both drivers in the simulator before returning here. From the running today, it looks like we have improved. We’re certainly not getting carried away, as there is plenty of scope within power unit modes and fuel loads for several cars to find a chunk of time before tomorrow. It’s encouraging though that the picture we had last week seems to have improved.
 
‘The long run data also looks close. Verstappen is still comfortably out front, as we saw last week, but behind him it’s going to be a tight battle for the remaining podium spots. We know we’ve got plenty to fine tune on the balance. It’s still early days with the W15, and we’re learning how to get lap-time out of it with each run, but it’s already feeling very different to the last two years that we have been here.’

2024 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Results

Daniel Ricciardo Fastest In FP1

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed the fastest time in the initial practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading the season’s first event. The Aussie surpassed Lando Norris of McLaren and his teammate Oscar Piastri, securing the prime position at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Yuki Tsunoda placing fourth in the second RB car. The leading quartet all recorded their best laps on the softest compound available.

The session commenced with a flurry of activity as the majority of drivers opted for the medium C2 compound tires, resulting in a frequent exchange of the lead as lap times rapidly improved. Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen initially held back during this early stage, but after 10 minutes, he left the Red Bull pit and swiftly ascended to the forefront with a time of 1:33.900.

The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were on an upward trajectory, and Hamilton closed in on Verstappen, trailing by just three hundredths of a second. Russell then found additional speed to clock a lap of 1:33.749, bumping Verstappen down to second place.

However, Verstappen quickly found his rhythm and reclaimed the lead with a lap of 1:33.535.

As the session reached its midpoint, Piastri switched to the C3 Soft tires and climbed to the top with a time of 1:33.113. Norris then surpassed him using the same soft compound with a time of 1:32.901. Tsunoda initially slotted into third after his run on Softs, but his teammate Ricciardo outdid them all with a blistering 1:32.869 on the soft tires.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished the session in fifth, while Verstappen, who stuck with Medium tires, recorded a best time of 1:33.238, placing him 0.369 seconds behind the front-runner Ricciardo.

Following Verstappen were other drivers on Medium tires, including Russell, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, Hamilton, and rounding out the top ten was Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who set his quickest lap on the Soft compound.

2024 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results