In the blistering sun of the Sakhir circuit with track temperatures reaching a blazing 43 degrees, the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen stormed into the lead on the opening day of play in Bahrain with a time of 1:33.162s. Team-mate Felipe Massa came in second, half a second behind Raikkonen but four tenths in front of Hamilton. Alonso was hot on Hamilton’s heels with a tiny margin separating the two McLarens. Trulli, Heidfeld, Kubica and Liuzzi completed the top eight.
One interesting thing to note is that no test drivers were present on the track for this first practice session in Bahrain.
Bahrain Grand Prix – P1 Times:
1. Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:33.162, 21 laps
2. Massa, Ferrari, 1:33.679 + 0.517, 17
3. Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:34.110 + 0.948, 17
4. Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:34.161 + 0.999, 15
5. Trulli, Toyota, 1:34.896 + 1.734, 26
6. Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:35.076 + 1.914, 30
7. Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:35.248 + 2.086, 24
8. Liuzzi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:35.292 + 2.130, 23
9. Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:35.375 + 2.213, 19
10. Wurz, Williams-Toyota, 1:35.398 + 2.236, 20
11. Button, Honda, 1:35.445 + 2.283, 24
12. Kovalainen, Renault, 1:35.474 + 2.312, 21
13. R.Schumacher, Toyota, 1:35.573 + 2.411, 24
14. Fisichella, Renault, 1:35.697 + 2.535, 17
15. Speed, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:35.726 + 2.564, 22
16. Sato, Super Aguri-Honda, 1:35.856 + 2.694, 15
17. Barrichello, Honda, 1:35.911 + 2.749, 20
18. Davidson, Super Aguri-Honda, 1:36.243 + 3.081, 6
19. Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1:36.483 + 3.321, 18
20. Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault, 1:36.513 + 3.351, 7
21. Sutil, Spyker-Ferrari, 1:37.084 + 3.922, 27
22. Albers, Spyker-Ferrari, 1:38.258 + 5.096, 29
