Bahrain GP: Ferrari 1-2 in 1st practice

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari Formula 1 teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel took the top two positions in the opening track cleaning exercise for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

With track temperatures well over 50 degrees and the track dirty the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg were just sandbagging, saving their car for when it matters and running heavy fuel loads for now. They ended up back in 15th and 16th but don't let that fool you.

Valteri Bottas was third for Williams with Mercedes power.

Carlos Sainz Jr was fourth ahead of the lead Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and Scuderia Toro Rosso teammate Max Verstappen.

McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso was a strong seventh, just under eight tenths off the pace.

But it wasn't all good news for McLaren, with Jenson Button spinning at Turn 1 on only his third lap and ending the day last after failing to set a time.

Results

Pos Driver Car Time Behind Laps
1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari/Ferrari 1m37.827s 0.000s 13
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari/Ferrari 1m38.029s 0.202s 12
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m38.390s 0.563s 23
4 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 1m38.447s 0.620s 14
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m38.455s 0.628s 17
6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault 1m38.504s 0.677s 22
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m38.598s 0.771s 18
8 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m38.628s 0.801s 17
9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault 1m38.661s 0.834s 17
10 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m38.790s 0.963s 21
11 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m38.793s 0.966s 15
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Mercedes 1m38.842s 1.015s 23
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m39.187s 1.360s 20
14 Jolyon Palmer Lotus/Mercedes 1m39.283s 1.456s 31
15 Nico Rosberg Mercedes/Mercedes 1m39.293s 1.466s 23
16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes/Mercedes 1m39.532s 1.705s 22
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m39.534s 1.707s 21
18 Will Stevens Marussia/Ferrari 1m42.973s 5.146s 12
19 Roberto Merhi Marussia/Ferrari 1m44.265s 6.438s 15
20 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 2