Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets at the end of the first free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, heading teammate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari look to bounce back after a below-par performance in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago.
With about half an hour to go, Leclerc and Vettel sparred for top spot with the German going seven tenths faster than the best time at that point, not long after the Monaco Kid popped to the top of the timing screens, a quarter of a second up on his teammate.
In fairness, the session in bright sunlight has little relevance with what will happen on race night, while the track was very green with cars chased by plumes of swirling dust.
Afternoon track temperatures were well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and not reflective of Sunday's race, which starts at 6 p.m. local time in cooler conditions. Therefore, drivers were reluctant to push their cars to avoid damage from overheating.
Nevertheless, Mercedes were either keeping their powder dry or in trouble. Valtteri Bottas was third fastest albeit a full second down on the top time, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth, a further quarter second adrift.
Next up were the Red Bull duo with Max Verstappen 1.3 seconds shy of the top time in fifth and Pierre Gasly a tenth and a bit off the sister car.
McLaren driver Carlos Sainz was Best of the Rest, in seventh, also fastest of the Renault powered quartet. Nico Hulkenberg was eighth and four tenths up on teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 11th.
Ninth was Daniil Kvyat in the Toro Rosso, making it three of the four Honda-powered cars in the top nine, followed by the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top ten.
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