RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was quickest in Free Practice 1, while Hamilton paced FP2 with a fastest time of the day of 1m30.374s.
Bahrain GP FP1 results: Ricciardo fastest from Norris
What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 1?
This full-daylight session was topped by Ricciardo, who lapped in 1m32.869s – 0.032s ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren).
The top four, which included their team-mates Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Yuki Tsunoda (RB), all used soft tyres to lead the way.
Best of the medium-shod runners was Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who was three tenths off the pace, and 0.045s ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull). The medium runners were closely matched, with George Russell (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) all within a tenth of Alonso’s best time.
Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) rounded out the top 10.
Haas suffered an awful session, with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg over 2s off their nearest rivals and 4.6s away from the overall pace.
Bahrain GP FP2 results: Hamilton fastest from Russell
| Pos | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’30.374 | 25 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’30.580 | 0.206 | 23 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’30.660 | 0.286 | 22 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1’30.769 | 0.395 | 25 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’30.784 | 0.410 | 27 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’30.851 | 0.477 | 25 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1’30.884 | 0.510 | 23 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’30.891 | 0.517 | 26 |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’31.113 | 0.739 | 26 |
| 10 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’31.115 | 0.741 | 26 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1’31.333 | 0.959 | 26 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB/Honda RBPT | 1’31.516 | 1.142 | 26 |
| 13 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1’31.715 | 1.341 | 27 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1’31.764 | 1.390 | 27 |
| 15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB/Honda RBPT | 1’31.881 | 1.507 | 29 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1’31.951 | 1.577 | 25 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber/Ferrari | 1’32.001 | 1.627 | 24 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1’32.027 | 1.653 | 25 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber/Ferrari | 1’32.048 | 1.674 | 28 |
| 20 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’32.608 | 2.234 | 25 |
What happened in Bahrain GP Free Practice 2?
Under the floodlights as darkness descended on the Persian Gulf island state, Hamilton set the pace straight from the start on softs at 1m30.751s, initially two tenths clear of Alonso and Leclerc.
Verstappen was only fourth after his first soft run – although he improved to third after taking a second push lap but was still four tenths off the pace. Hamilton’s team-mate Russell, meanwhile, had a small fire break out underneath the front floor of his car after some excessive sparking from its skidplate.
Hamilton bolted on a second set of softs just before the halfway point to record a faster time of 1m30.374s, four tenths clear of Ferrari’s testing pacesetter Carlos Sainz and Piastri. Russell and Alonso then jumped up to second and third respectively on their second runs on fresh rubber.
Verstappen could only manage sixth, 0.477s down on Hamilton, from Hulkenberg – as Haas enjoyed a much more competitive session – Lance Stroll (Aston), Leclerc and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
Norris aborted his qualifying sim lap, and languished in last place, over 2s off the pace.