Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the pace in opening practice at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
After winning the season opener in Melbourne, the German continued his good form in 2016 by topping the first session of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.
Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton ended FP1 second fastest albeit half a second off the pace set by Rosberg.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was best of the rest in third place, 1.8 seconds off the pace set by the Mercedes’.
The Red Bull’s were next up in fourth and fifth position, Daniel Ricciardo leading Daniil Kvyat with just a tenth of a second separating the duo.
Just four-tenths separated Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in sixth and Williams’ Felipe Massa in tenth showing the closeness in lap time between all of the midfield cars.
Haas will be encouraged after scoring points in their maiden F1 weekend, Romain Grosjean ended FP1 ninth fastest whilst Esteban Gutierrez was thirteenth.
Making his F1 debut is Stoffel Vandoorne, replacing the injured Fernando Alonso. The Belgian was P18 behind Manor Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein.
Second practice in Bahrain gets underway at 1600 BST.
