Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso topped Friday Practice for 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.
Having split both Red Bull drivers in FP1 in second place, Alonso proved Aston Martin’s pace was real by topping FP2 ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez whilst the midfield pecking order remains largely unclear.
Ferrari and Mercedes meanwhile are hoping to fight Red Bull for both titles this season but looked off the pace as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton respectively posted their team’s best times in fourth and eighth position.
Now, here is a full roundup of Friday Practice for 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
FP1
The driver pairs of Williams, Alfa Romeo and McLaren were first out on track headed by Albon but it was Alonso who initially headed the field in opening runs with 1m 35.048 on medium tyres.
Perez then went fastest in the 12th minute with 1m 34.343 as all ten teams opted to treat this unrepresentative session as a mini-test.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were first to switch to a soft-tyre run just 17 minutes into the session which led Perez to follow suit soon afterwards, with the Mexican posting 1m 32.758 to head his Red Bull teammate – Verstappen plus Alonso at the halfway mark.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz meanwhile produced a scary moment in the 39th minute as he hit a bump at Turn 9, which unsettled his rear end into a fast spin although he avoided sliding into the barriers and recovered to the pits but finished slowest overall.
As the checkered flag fell, Perez remained unbeaten as he topped the opening practice session of the new season from Alonso and Verstappen, whilst Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five on soft and medium tyres respectively.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on his return from a wrist injury which sidelined him in the pre-season test finished sixth-quickest, after overcoming an early ignition issue which limited his running in the first half-four.
Magnussen, Guanyu Zhou, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten – of which Hamilton’s fastest lap time was set on the medium tyre.
Outside of the top ten, George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Albon and Sainz all set their fastest lap times on the medium tyre rather than soft tyre compound.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1m 32.758 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.438 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.617 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.407 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.499 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.540 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.644 |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.817 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.931 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 2.159 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 2.208 |
| 12 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 2.239 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 2.257 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 2.285 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 2.347 |
| 16 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | + 2.644 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 2.697 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.991 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 3.260 |
| 20 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 3.314 |
FP2
Stroll was first out on track but with a mixture of drivers opting for soft or medium tyres in their opening runs in this only representative session before Qualifying, it was Leclerc and Sainz who initially went quickest once the first runs were completed.
Sainz later managed to get to within 0.113 seconds of Leclerc before the qualifying simulations in which Stroll initially went fastest with 1m 31.450 in the 25th minute.
Two minutes later, there were three changes of the lead as Hulkenberg went 0.074s quicker than Stroll only to be displaced by Perez, who then lost top spot to Alonso as the Spaniard posted a session-topping 1m 30.907.
Verstappen eventually finished second quickest but just 0.002s clear of Perez in third as Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Stroll, Gasly, Hamilton, Norris and Zhou rounded out the top ten.
Race simulations later proceeded smoothly aside from various drivers running wide as they explored track limits, whilst Perez suffered a dashboard issue in terms of seeing his lap times.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m 30.907 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.169 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.171 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.460 |
| 5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.469 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.543 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.568 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.636 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.663 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.679 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.701 |
| 12 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.886 |
| 13 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.975 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.049 |
| 15 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.117 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.203 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.533 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.618 |
| 19 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.698 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.842 |
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