Russell: Red Bull Strongest After Bahrain Practice

During the first day of practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, George Russell and Charles Leclerc identified Red Bull as the team to beat. Red Bull's drivers Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen finished the day in second and fourth fastest positions, respectively, which did not fully reflect their actual pace. Ferrari's Leclerc clocked the fastest time, 0.099 seconds ahead of Hadjar, while Verstappen trailed by 0.257 seconds and was behind McLaren's Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton secured fifth fastest, 0.305 seconds off the pace in the second Ferrari.

Despite not having completed a qualifying simulation run with the soft tyre, Verstappen described his day as a "decent start" and "positive," prioritizing race preparation instead due to anticipated rain. Leclerc noted that Hadjar had made errors in his lap while Verstappen opted against the soft-tyre run. He commented, "Everybody is very close. It’s been a very difficult day overall. The track conditions were very tricky, quite dirty, and slippery. Things will evolve a lot from today until tomorrow, and we need to anticipate that. I felt good with the car, but the Red Bull is standing out this weekend so far."

Russell, along with teammate Kimi Antonelli, finished seventh and eighth in the headline times, as they evaluated a significant upgrade on their car, which was the first since the Canadian Grand Prix in June. Russell expressed, "I’m feeling the downforce in some corners, but an amount of tire overheating and degradation trumps everything. We just need to get on top of that overnight. That’s more of a setup issue than the upgrade itself." When questioned about competing for pole position on Saturday, Russell acknowledged, "Currently, Verstappen looks very fast and the race pace of McLaren seemed rapid, but never say never."

On race simulation runs, Verstappen appeared to be the car to beat, factoring in stint length and tire wear in the high temperatures and abrasive track, which had not hosted F1 races since 2017. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten. Three drivers faced grid penalties, with Hadjar set to drop five places for exceeding allowable engine parts. Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and Alpine's Franco Colapinto would start from the back due to engine penalties.

F1 returned to this track amid circumstances surrounding the calendar, as the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were initially canceled due to the war in the Middle East. Bahrain officials negotiated to hold the race in Malaysia, which prompted various Bahraini-related activities at the track, and instead of champagne, rosewater will be used for the podium celebrations.