Lewis Hamilton fastest in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton dominates in the desert to go fastest in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with the world champion’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas a distant second

  • Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes dominated first practice for Bahrain Grand Prix
  • The world champion was just under half-a-second quicker than Valtteri Bottas
  • Mercedes powered Racing Point of Sergio Perez was third fastest
  • Red Bull were over a second down on Hamilton’s time with Max Verstappen sixth 

Lewis Hamilton started life as a seven-time world champion in dominating fashion after going nearly half-a-second quicker than anyone else in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Brit matched Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of Formula One titles in Turkey last time out with one of his greatest ever victories in the wet conditions, but he was just as untouchable in the dry desert at the Sakhir Circuit.

Setting a time of 1:29.033 he was 0.449 seconds clear of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Mercedes once again proving the class of the field.

More to follow… 

Lewis Hamilton locks his front left tyre during first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix but still managed to go quickest by over half a second in the weekend’s opening session

The new seven-time world champion continued his dominance in Sakhir on Friday morning

The new seven-time world champion continued his dominance in Sakhir on Friday morning