Pierre Gasly led the first practice session of the new Formula 1 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday.
In largely unrepresentative conditions as gusty winds swept across the desert, the Frenchman would post a 1m34.193s on the soft tyre to set the pace for AlphaTauri.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz sat four-tenths back in second and third for Ferrari, who continue to look strong as both drivers set their best lap on the medium compound.
In contrast, Mercedes remain very much an unknown with George Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton seventh on the same tyres as Gasly.
Like Ferrari, Red Bull focused on the medium tyre after an initial run on the hards, fifth-placed Max Verstappen also did his best lap much earlier than most when the track was slower.
The session began with early trouble for Valtteri Bottas, who reported a misfire from his Alfa Romeo on his installation lap out of the pits.
Despite an effort to fix the problem, the Finn had the same issue on a second lap meaning an engine change is likely between now and second practice.
There was also early drama for Esteban Ocon, as his Alpine shredded its sidepod bodywork on the right-hand side going down the pit straight, leaving debris on the track and causing a red flag.
Esteban Ocon’s first practice session of 2022 didn’t start quite how he would have wanted ?#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UAO2Iadz7M
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022
When the session resumed, Verstappen posted what would be his fastest time on a 1m34.7s on the medium tyre.
That remained the benchmark until the final 15 minutes when George Russell briefly went P1 for Mercedes on the soft compound.
Despite a spin for Leclerc at Turn 11, he and Sainz soon displaced the Briton before Gasly set his P1 time in the most action-packed part of the session.
Aston Martin had a solid start with Lance Stroll sixth, while super-sub Nico Hulkenberg was 14th and equalled the most laps as he got to grips with the AMR22.
Hamilton was followed by Fernando Alonso in eighth, as Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.
Further down, Nicholas Latifi had the early edge on new teammate Alex Albon at Williams.
The two McLarens were also well down the order in 16th and 17th as they assessed a new front brake solution following their issues in the test last week.
They were followed by the two Haas’ at the back of the field with only the stricken Bottas behind them.
Full results from FP1 can be seen below:
FP1 CLASSIFICATION
It’s @PierreGASLY on top in the first session of 2022!#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/7Ysl05h6mt
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022