Bahrain GP: Leclerc leads dominant Ferrari 1-2 in FP1

Charles Leclerc set a best lap of 1m30.354s to lead the way in the blistering daytime heat, 0.263 seconds clear of Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari one-two.

Melbourne race winner Valtteri Bottas was third fastest, 0.974s down on Vettel, while Lewis Hamilton was more than 1.2s off the pace in fourth.

It looked as though Mercedes was in terrific shape in the early part of the session, as Bottas and Hamilton both used medium tyres to lap quicker than the soft-tyred Ferraris initially.

Bottas led the way on a 1m32.340s and it took several attempts before Vettel fractionally displaced him at the top of the timesheet.

Ferrari then took a big step forward, as Vettel broke into the 1m31s and Leclerc slotted into second on 1m31.884s, 0.137s down on his teammate.

When Mercedes finally bolted soft tyres onto its cars, Bottas leapt back to the top, despite a small moment at Turn 10, setting a 1m31.328s best to stretch four tenths clear of Ferrari.

Hamilton then slotted into second spot, just under three tenths down on Bottas, despite running wide at the final corner.

But Ferrari made one final push, with both cars taking to the track on soft tyres again and breaking into the 1m30s.

Vettel moved briefly to the top with a 1m30.617s effort, before Leclerc went faster still to claim the top spot and make an emphatic statement at the start of an important weekend for the Scuderia.

The Red Bull-Honda of Max Verstappen enjoyed brief spells at the top but ultimately ended the session fifth, encouragingly less than a tenth slower than Hamilton's Mercedes.

Pierre Gasly endured a difficult start to the session in the second Red Bull, complaining it was "super-oversteery" on the apex of corners on the hard tyre and asking the team to check the engine braking settings.

He finally hooked a lap together on soft tyres that was less than two tenths down on Verstappen.

The McLaren of Carlos Sainz, which has taken a new Renault engine for this weekend following a fiery MGU-K failure in the Australian Grand Prix, was an impressive seventh fastest, just 0.137s down on Gasly.

Nico Hulkenberg's Renault – which collided with Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo in the closing minutes of the session – was eighth, ahead of Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso-Honda and Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa.

Daniel Ricciardo carried the replacement Renault chassis he's been given following the first-lap damage he suffered in Australia to the 11th fastest time, while Kevin Magnussen was 12th in the best of the Haas-Ferraris.

Williams once again brought up the rear of the field, with George Russell incurring car damage from a pitlane start and suffering a spin.

He was almost seven tenths down on the Racing Point of Lance Stroll, who suffered his own spin exiting Turn 4 early on and struck the inside barrier.

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	Ferrari	20	1'30.354
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari	21	1'30.617	0.263
3	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	Mercedes	26	1'31.328	0.974
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes	23	1'31.601	1.247
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	Honda	21	1'31.673	1.319
6	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull	Honda	17	1'31.815	1.461
7	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren	Renault	28	1'31.952	1.598
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	Renault	17	1'32.040	1.686
9	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	Honda	24	1'32.339	1.985
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	23	1'32.385	2.031
11	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	Renault	19	1'32.401	2.047
12	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	Ferrari	21	1'32.602	2.248
13	Alex Albon	Toro Rosso	Honda	24	1'32.874	2.520
14	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	Mercedes	20	1'32.885	2.531
15	Lando Norris	McLaren	Renault	29	1'32.945	2.591
16	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	22	1'32.949	2.595
17	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari	22	1'32.994	2.640
18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	Mercedes	16	1'33.518	3.164
19	George Russell	Williams	Mercedes	26	1'34.188	3.834
20	Robert Kubica	Williams	Mercedes	27	1'34.253	3.899