The first two Formula 1 Free Practice sessions of 2024 got underway at the Bahrain International Circuit outside of Sakhir, Bahrain on Thursday, February 29th. The circuit will host the 20th running of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, March 2nd.

Most teams chose the second, cooler night time Free Practice session to try out a set of soft tires.

Four of the five teams that strapped on the soft tires in the afternoon session ran the quickest times with RB's Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda running first and fourth quickest, respectively. McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri running second and third quickest, respectively.

"It was a good day and good testing for us," said Ricciardo. "We had our five minutes of fame in the morning, but as much as it was nice to see your name at the top, we knew not many teams put on the soft tyre compound in FP1 and that we'd get a true picture of where we're at this evening."

In the evening, the W15's of Mercedes ran the two quickest times of the session with seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton leading the charge followed by teammate, George Russell.

At the end of Thursday, Mercedes reported: "In the cooler conditions of FP2, focus turned to the Soft compound tyre. Both Lewis and George reported being comfortable with the overall balance of the W15. Initial data from the long runs suggests an incredibly tight chasing pack behind the Red Bulls."

"Following (last week's) test we were most concerned about our single lap pace," said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director. "We had both drivers in the simulator before returning here. From the running today, it looks like we have improved. We're certainly not getting carried away, as there is plenty of scope within power unit modes and fuel loads for several cars to find a chunk of time before tomorrow. It's encouraging though that the picture we had last week seems to have improved."

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was third quickest in FP2 followed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Oscar Piastre.

2023's World Champion, Max Verstappen, was sixth quickest Thursday night.

"The practice sessions today were not perfect but we weren't too far off," said Verstappen. "The long runs were quite decent, and I think we can always do a little better on those laps. There were a few small balance issues that we will work on but I am quite happy with everything with the car overall."

FP2 Results Summary: Hamilton (1:30.374), Russell (1:30.580), Alonso (1:30.660), Sainz (1:30.769), Piastri (1:30.784), Verstappen (1:30.851), Hulkenberg (1:30.884), Stroll (1:30.891), Leclerc (1:31.113), Perez (1:31.115), Albon (1:31.333), Ricciardo (1:31.516), Sargeant (1:31.715), Magnussen (1:31.764), Tsunoda (1:31.881), Gasly (1:31.951), Bottas (1:32.001), Ocon (1:32.027), Zhou (1:32.048), Norris (1:32.608)

FP1 Results Summary: Ricciardo (1:32.869), Norris (1:32.901), Piastri (1:33.113), Tsunoda (1:33.183), Alonso (1:33.193), Verstappen (1:33.238), Russell (1:33.251), Leclerc (1:33.268), Hamilton (1:33.302), Bottas (1:33.354), Sainz (1:33.385), Perez (1:33.413), Albon (1:33.583), Stroll (1:33.868), Zhou (1:33.923), Sargeant (1:34.213), Ocon (1:34.807), Gasly (1:35.144), Magnussen (1:37.477), Hulkenberg (1:37.938)

FP2 - Full Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:30.374	133.961 mph
2	Russell		Mercedes	1:30.580	0.206
3	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:30.660	0.286
4	Sainz		Ferrari		1:30.769	0.395
5	Piastri		McLaren		1:30.784	0.410
6	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:30.851	0.477
7	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:30.884	0.510
8	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:30.891	0.517
9	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:31.113	0.739
10	Perez		Red Bull	1:31.115	0.741
11	Albon		Williams	1:31.333	0.959
12	Ricciardo	RB		1:31.516	1.142
13	Sargeant	Williams	1:31.715	1.341
14	Magnussen	Haas		1:31.764	1.390
15	Tsunoda		RB		1:31.881	1.507
16	Gasly		Alpine		1:31.951	1.577
17	Bottas		Stake		1:32.001	1.627
18	Ocon		Alpine		1:32.027	1.653
19	Zhou		Stake		1:32.048	1.674
20	Norris		McLaren		1:32.608	2.234

FP1 - Full Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Tyre	Time		Gap

1	Ricciardo	RB		S	1:32.869	130.362 mph
2	Norris		McLaren		S	1:32.901	0.032
3	Piastri		McLaren		S	1:33.113	0.244
4	Tsunoda		RB		S	1:33.183	0.314
5	Alonso		Aston Martin	M	1:33.193	0.324
6	Verstappen	Red Bull	M	1:33.238	0.369
7	Russell		Mercedes	M	1:33.251	0.382
8	Leclerc		Ferrari		M	1:33.268	0.399
9	Hamilton	Mercedes	M	1:33.302	0.433
10	Bottas		Stake		S	1:33.354	0.485
11	Sainz		Ferrari		M	1:33.385	0.516
12	Perez		Red Bull	M	1:33.413	0.544
13	Albon		Williams	M	1:33.583	0.714
14	Stroll		Aston Martin	M	1:33.868	0.999
15	Zhou		Stake		S	1:33.923	1.054
16	Sargeant	Williams	M	1:34.213	1.344
17	Ocon		Alpine		M	1:34.807	1.938
18	Gasly		Alpine		M	1:35.144	2.275
19	Magnussen	Haas		M	1:37.477	4.608
20	Hulkenberg	Haas	        M	1:37.938	5.069

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)