Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly set the pace in first practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as the true competitive picture remained unclear.
Gasly was 0.364sec quicker than Charles Leclerc in second, but using soft tires while the Ferrari was in the slower middle.
Carlos Sainz’s second Ferrari was third, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was seventh, behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
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The Mercedes drivers again insisted before the session began that their car is still not fully competitive as the team struggles to overcome aerodynamic issues that cause it to bounce down the straights.
And the Mercedes did not look comfortable to drive on the Sakhir track, the drivers struggling with a lack of rear grip.
Russell and Hamilton were also on the soft tire when he set his time, while Verstappen was in the middle.
Leclerc’s fastest time came despite the 24-year-old spinning at speed at Turn 11 on his first attempt. The mistake damaged his tires but he still managed to improve on his next lap.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was eighth fastest, while team-mate Esteban Ocon had to switch to an earlier pontoon design after an upgraded version introduced for this weekend blew up on the straight earlier in the session.
Ocon finished the session 12th, separated from Alonso by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Chinese rookie Zhou Guanyu.
In the second session, which starts at 18:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the teams will carry out qualifying tests and race simulation to get a clearer picture of where the teams are compared to the others.
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