F1 Results Today: Bahrain Grand Prix practice times - Mercedes STUN after Ricciardo flies

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in the second session of free practice on Thursday in Bahrain, followed by team-mate George Russell as Mercedes looked strong on the first day of the season proper.

Max Verstappen set the sixth fastest time, behind an Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari, as questions were raised over the Red Bull star's fuel load and engine settings.

Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheets in FP1, with the VCARBs and McLarens filling the top four slots as Verstappen set just the sixth fastest time of the session again.

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The first race 'weekend' of the season got underway on Thursday morning, with high winds and chilly temperatures providing tricky conditions for the grid.

Verstappen continued his 2023 form for complaining about his car, telling his garage that 'everything is s***' after setting the fastest lap of the first set of runs, before mithering over the feel of the car on upshifts and downshifts.

The times from the early session aren't expected to be representative of the qualifying order for Friday evening, with different track conditions and teams still looking to key their cars into the circuit - but the second session should be more of a balanced showing.

The only small moment of technical drama came right at the start of the first session, Zhou Guanyu limping into the pits after complaining to his engineers that his brakes 'didn't work', but he quickly got back on track.

READ MORE: F1 Bahrain Grand Prix weather forecast - strong winds to impact event

F1 FP2 Results: Bahrain Grand Prix 2024

1. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +1:30.374sec

2. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.206sec

3. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +0.286sec

4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.395sec

5. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.410sec

6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.477sec

7. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +0.510sec

8. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +0.517sec

9. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.739sec

10. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.741sec

11. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.959sec

12. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - +1.142sec

13. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +1.341sec

14. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +1.390sec

15. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +1.507sec

16. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +1.577sec

17. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +1.627sec

18. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +1.653sec

19. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - +1.674sec

20. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +2.234sec

F1 FP1 Results: Bahrain Grand Prix 2024

1. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - 1:32.869sec

2. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.032sec

3. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.244sec

4. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +0.314sec

5. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +0.324sec

6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.369sec

7. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.382sec

8. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.399sec

9. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.433sec

10. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +0.485sec

11. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.516sec

12. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.544sec

13. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.714sec

14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +0.999sec

15. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - +1.054sec

16. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +1.344sec

17. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +1.938sec

18. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +2.275sec

19. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +4.608sec

20. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +5.069sec

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The 60-minute qualifying session is split into three finite windows which provides a dramatic prelude to Saturday's big race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

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