F1 championship leader Lando Norris went quickest in the opening practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix as teams gave six rookies track time at the Sakhir circuit. 

Having conducted pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in late February and with the daytime opening practice session taking place in conditions unrepresentative of Sunday evening’s race, team’s chose to hand a clutch of reserve and test drivers an opportunity to gain valuable F1 experience. Ayumu Iwasa stood in at Red Bull for defending world champipon Max Verstappen, while Dino Beganovic drove Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari SF-25. At Mercedes, Frederik Vesti replaced George Russell, Felipe Drugovich stood in for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, Ryo Hirakawa drove in place of Ollie Bearman at Haas and Luke Browning took Carlos Sainz’s seat at Williams. 

It was title leader Norris who controlled things at the top of the order, however, with the McLaren driver setting an early, albeit conservative, benchmark at 1:35.249, six seconds off the fastest lap in pre-season testing set by Carlos Sainz. 

Sainz's Williams team-mate Alex Albon was Norris' closest challenger but then Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto took over at the top with a Soft tyre time of 1:34.628. Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly traded times before Norris once again jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:33.204, ahead of Gasly, Albon and Haas driver Esteban Ocon.

Towards the end of the session Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finally bolted on a set of Soft tyres and climbed to third behind Norris and Gasly as he tested the new floor Ferrari have brough to the SF-25 in Bahrain.

Albon dropped to fourth on the timesheet, with Ocon taking fifth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg and Alpine’s Jack Doohan. Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri completed the top 10 order. 

Of the rookies on show, Browning was the highest placed, taking 13th place with a time of 1:34.885, 1.681 off Norris and a little under two tenths ahead of Ferrari's Beganovic. 
Drugovich took P16 ahead of Hirakawa, Vesti, Iwasa and regular Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.204 23 209.038
2 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:33.442 0.238 23 208.505
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:33.800 0.596 23 207.710
4 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:33.928 0.724 24 207.426
5 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:34.184 0.980 19 206.863
6 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:34.262 1.058 24 206.691
7 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:34.396 1.192 23 206.398
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:34.397 1.193 23 206.396
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:34.484 1.280 23 206.206
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:34.508 1.304 25 206.153
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:34.628 1.424 23 205.892
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:34.667 1.463 22 205.807
13 Luke Browning Williams/Mercedes 1:34.885 1.681 20 205.334
14 Dino Beganovic Ferrari 1:35.055 1.851 20 204.967
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:35.116 1.912 23 204.836
16 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:35.198 1.994 19 204.659
17 Ryō Hirakawa Haas/Ferrari 1:35.261 2.057 20 204.524
18 Frederik Vesti Mercedes 1:35.325 2.121 26 204.387
19 Ayumu Iwasa Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:35.475 2.271 20 204.065
20 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:38.051 4.847 3 198.704