Gasly leads the first practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Pierre Gasly finished on top of the time charts in the first free practice session 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain.

Charles Leclerc finished in second position ahead of his team-mate Carlos Sainz at the end of the first practice session.

The first free practice session of the opening race of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship started at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir with air temperatures at 20 degrees C and track temperatures at 36 degrees C.

The brand new 2022 challengers under the new regulations looked strikingly different from the cars of last season. Each car was a unique interpretation of the regulations as the new 2022 season was underway.

Nico Hulkenberg replaced Sebastian Vettel, who has tested positive for Covid19, for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team. Daniel Ricciardo was back at the wheel of the MCL36 after missing the second test with Covid19-related illness.

Leclerc for Scuderia Ferrari was the first driver on the track. Lando Norris set the early pace with a lap time of 1m36.584s.

Esteban Ocon lost a significant amount of bodywork from his sidepods on the start-finish straight. The session was red-flagged as the debris strewn across the track was retrieved.

The session was restarted with forty minutes to go. Fernando Alonso went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m35.247s. But Max Verstappen went 0.437 seconds faster to move into first position.

Sergio Pérez moved up the time charts and was in second position behind team-mate Verstappen, just 0.308 seconds slower. Alonso and Ocon were behind the two Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers on the time charts.

The two Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers were off the pace with Lewis Hamilton in eighth position, 1.625 seconds slower than Verstappen. New team-mate George Russell lost some body work and was in tenth position.

With twenty minutes to go, more drivers came out on the soft compound tyres. Russell went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m 34.629s, 0.113 seconds faster than Verstappen.

But the Briton was soon displaced by Pierre Gasly, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the top of the time charts.

Gasly with a lap time of 1m34.193s was 0.436 seconds faster than Russell. The session ended with Gasly on top ahead of Leclerc and Sainz,

Russell finished in fourth position with Hamilton in seventh position. Verstappen was fifth fastest, but the lap was set on the medium compound tyres. Team-mate Pérez finished in tenth position.

Lance Stroll was in sixth position with Hulkenberg in fourteenth position for the Aston Martin team. A good performance from Hulkenberg as he is driving the new generation cars for the first time.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team drivers, Alonso and Ocon, finished in eighth and twelfth positions as the team had a good practice session.

Yuki Tsunoda was in ninth position, 0.835 seconds slower than his team-mate Gasly.

Zhou Guanyu was in eleventh position for the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN even as team-mate Valtteri Bottas did not set a timed lap with engine issues.

Nicholas Latifi had a good start to the season as he finished in thirteenth position. New team-mate Alexander Albon was in fifteenth position for the Williams Racing team.

The two McLaren F1 team drivers, Norris and Ricciardo, finished only in sixteenth or seventeenth positions. The team is sorting out brake issues and do not show their true pace in Friday practice sessions.

The two Haas F1 Team drivers, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen, languished in eighteenth and nineteenth positions as the team is looking for a better season after finishing last in 2021.

2022 Bahrain Grand Prix Free Practice 1 (FP1) Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Nat.	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri	1:34.193		23
2	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1:34.557	+0.364s	22
3	55	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1:34.611	+0.418s	23
4	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:34.629	+0.436s	23
5	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:34.742	+0.549s	22
6	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team	1:34.814	+0.621s	22
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:34.943	+0.750s	17
8	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:35.000	+0.807s	14
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JAP	Scuderia AlphaTauri	1:35.028	+0.835s	20
10	11	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:35.050	+0.857s	23
11	24	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:35.053	+0.860s	20
12	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:35.151	+0.958s	15
13	6	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1:35.644	+1.451s	15
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team	1:35.815	+1.622s	23
15	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1:35.923	+1.730s	17
16	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1:36.304	+2.111s	22
17	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1:36.402	+2.209s	20
18	47	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas F1 Team	1:36.536	+2.343s	23
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1:36.804	+2.611s	21
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing			2