Sepang (Malaysia) (AFP) – Red Bull and Ferrari dominated the first free practice sessions of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix, relocated to the Sepang circuit (Malaysia), this Friday, on a day in which Mercedes, the world champion, was far behind.

First modification: 02/10/2026 - 12:34

The Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc set the best time of the afternoon session with his Ferrari, with 1:37.528, closely followed by the Red Bull of the Frenchman Isack Hadjar (1:37.627) and the McLaren of the British Lando Norris (1:37.665).

With this good performance, the 28-year-old Monegasque driver expresses with numbers the defense he made on Thursday of the head of the Scuderia, the Frenchman Frédéric Vasseur, who was highly criticized for the lack of results this season of the legendary Italian constructor.

Vasseur has been at the center of speculation since former Red Bull boss Christian Horner described Ferrari as a "dream job" in a recent interview.

Scuderia boss under pressure

"Honestly, the big problem we have today is stability and serenity in the team," Vasseur declared to the press between the two training sessions.

"We had a good start to the season, for sure. It's not enough, we want to achieve more; we want to win more. We want to win the championship," he added.

Under very hot conditions and with 60 ºC on the track, the other three drivers from these same teams completed the Top 6: fourth was the Dutchman from Red Bull, followed by the British Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren driver from the Australian Oscar Piastri.

All of them set times under one minute and 38 seconds.

The two main contenders for the World title, the Italian Kimi Antonelli (leader with 302 points) and the British George Russell (236) exceeded that limit and were behind their rivals.

Russell finished with the seventh best time (1:38.02) and, just behind him, four hundredths behind, his teammate Antonelli.

In the morning, in the first session, Verstappen was the fastest, followed by Russell and Hadjar.

The second session ended with the virtual safety car (VSC) after the Audi of Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto stopped on the track due to a transmission failure, in the only incident recorded on a Sepang circuit with a dusty and low-grip asphalt, which F1 receives for the first time since 2017.

This Bahrain Grand Prix was scheduled for the start of the season, but was suspended due to the war in the Gulf and later moved to Malaysia.

Colapinto, very late

After the controversy caused by a risky overtaking maneuver that ended, in the last Grand Prix in Baku, with an accident in which the two Alpines and Norris' McLaren were involved, the Argentine Franco Colapinto did not have a notable performance.

Harshly criticized by Norris for that maneuver, which even led the Alpine boss, the Italian Flavio Briatore, to threaten Colapinto with taking action, the Argentinean set the worst time of the entire grid in the afternoon session, more than two seconds behind the penultimate classified, the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Cadillac).

Before journalists, Briatore said this Friday: "Of course I was disappointed when it happened, but it's another race and everyone forgets. We have to keep looking to the future. The past is the past and nothing can be done."

Colapinto faces a penalty of 15 places on the grid, for the Baku accident and for installing a new engine.

Hadjar will lose five places for installing a new power unit and the British Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) will be in the last row with a penalty of 30 places for installing a new engine, turbo and exhaust.

© 2026 AFP

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.