The first session of the 2022 Formula 1 season began with the first red flag of the year due to the loss of a part of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, but that did not prevent Pierre Gasly from finishing as the first leader of the year.
The French driver led Free Practice 1 of the Bahrain Grand Prix that opened the course of the new era of the Grand Circus, surprising everyone, since very few expected an AlphaTauri as the fastest, however, his 1:34.193 was with soft, while the second, Charles Leclerc, set a time of three and a half tenths slower with a medium compound.
His teammate at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, finished in third place, reaffirming the good form of the Italians at the start of 2022. The Spaniard also made his best record with a midfield game, so it is possible that they can improve those marks.
After him finished George Russell, who at times was the fastest with the soft, but was falling in the classification until that fourth place. The world champion, Max Verstappen, came out on the track with force, dominating the first minutes, although over time, some rivals exceeded his time of 1:34.742.
Lance Stroll was sixth quickest, suggesting that many had something to spare, as the Aston Martin was not one of the best in pre-season. The Canadian was followed by Lewis Hamilton, who seems to have solved part of the porpoising problems he suffered in the tests at Sakhir, although he still has to take the final step to fight for victory.
Closing the top 10 were Fernando Alonso, who was eight tenths off Gasly’s record, although ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, and Sergio Pérez, one of the hardest workers.
Free Practice 1 results of the 2022 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix
Click on “SEE RESULTS” to see the complete classification
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri | 23 | 1’34.193 | |
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 22 | 1’34.557 | 0.364 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
ferrari | 23 | 1,34,611 | 0.418 |
| 4 |  George Russell |
Mercedes | 23 | 1’34.629 | 0.436 |
| 5 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 22 | 1’34.742 | 0.549 |
| 6 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 22 | 1’34.814 | 0.621 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 17 | 1’34.943 | 0.750 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 14 | 1’35.000 | 0.807 |
| 9 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 20 | 1’35.028 | 0.835 |
| 10 |  Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 23 | 1’35,050 | 0.857 |
| see results | |||||
Summary of Free Practice 1 of the 2022 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix
The 2022 Formula 1 season began with the first free practice sessions of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and the driver who debuted the new course was Charles Leclerc, who couldn’t wait to see the green light to go out on the track armed with several grids of sensors , showing that the development of single-seaters will be key.
The Monegasque was followed by Nico Hulkenberg’s Aston Martin, who replaces Sebastian Vettel after his positive for COVID-19 , the two Alfa Romeos and the Haas, although most of the grid came out to check if everything was in place.
Everything seemed to indicate that it was, but the right pontoon of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine was not adjusted perfectly and it went flying on the finish straight of the Sakhir track. This caused the race management to raise the first red flag of the year, which was delayed until after the initial twenty minutes of the session, when the two McLarens commanded the table with the only competitive times.
Once the track was cleaned, Fernando Alonso was the first to get to the end of the pitlane, probably to check if his team had not made the same mistake when placing the bodywork, and he was able to take the lead thanks to a 1:35.247 with soft tires, although Max Verstappen, who defends his status as champion, beat the Spaniard with a medium compound and a time of 1:34.783.
Mercedes, for its part, came out with Lewis Hamilton and his new yellow helmet, inspired by his beginnings in motorsport, and it seemed that they had solved part of the porpoising problems that they accused in preseason.
His partner, who makes his debut as a starter in the German team, George Russell, before the first thirty minutes of the session were consumed, lost a piece of the bottom of the W13 at the end of the finish straight when he ran over a pothole, although it did not return to the garage immediately, but stayed on the track.
After seeing how the half hour that opened the course passed, part of the grid returned to the box to work on the set-up, but Sergio Pérez remained the most active after shooting 12 laps with a set of hard and another medium. at the same time that he was placed behind his partner in second position, just over three tenths.
Esteban Ocon, once the problems with the A522 had been resolved , continued to run at Sakhir, and was able to move up to fourth place one second behind Verstappen on new soft tyres, six tenths off the leader and two behind Alonso.
With 20 minutes to go before the checkered flag, Lewis Hamilton drove down the finish straight looking oddly to the left as his car showed some bounce, but not in the same way as in winter testing.
Ferrari, for its part, after being the best in preseason and the rest placing them as favorites, did not appear much, as Leclerc was fifth, more than a second behind the leaders, as was Carlos Sainz, who was seventh second and a half from Verstappen, although both did the laps with the hard one.
Just over a quarter of an hour from the end , the Monegasque lost control of the F1-75 at turn 11, causing a yellow flag without major consequences, while Russell took the lead on the softs with a time of 1:34.629.
Minutes later, Pierre Gasly surprised everyone with a 1:34.193 that placed him in first position, ahead of Carlos Sainz by more than four tenths. The Ferraris wanted to show some of their cards, and Leclerc improved the man from Madrid to take second in the last few laps he was doing.
The final part of the session served to see a little of the way in which the teams arrived at the first round of the year, ordering the grid, and there was no lack of complaints from some drivers about the traffic at the end of the track, just before start lap.
After seeing the checkered flag, the single-seaters went to the starting grid to do some starting tests, just as they did in the pre-season tests, although it will be of little use if the temperature changes, since the race will start when it falls the sun and the asphalt is colder.
Gallery: the best photos from Free Practice 1 of the F1 Bahrain GP 2022
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
