What was supposed to be a dusty warm-up turned into a Friday classic:
- Lando quietly dominates
- Pierre Gasly reminds us he exists
- Albon nearly wipes out his teammate
- Williams pit wall invents new ways to suffer
- Ferrari upgrades bounce like checks
- And Yuki Tsunoda gets the first official reprimand of the season for… trying to not cause a crash?
Let’s recap the desert drama that was Bahrain FP1.
FP1 Top 10 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Lando Norris | 1:33.204 |
| P2 | Pierre Gasly | 1:33.442 |
| P3 | Lewis Hamilton | 1:33.800 |
| P4 | Alexander Albon | 1:33.928 |
| P5 | Esteban Ocon | 1:34.184 |
| P6 | Nico Hulkenberg | 1:34.262 |
| P7 | Jack Doohan | 1:34.396 |
| P8 | Liam Lawson | 1:34.397 |
| P9 | Yuki Tsunoda | 1:34.484 |
| P10 | Oscar Piastri | 1:34.508 |
Yuki Gets Reprimanded. Albon Doesn’t. Chaos Ensues.
Yuki Tsunoda has officially received the first reprimand of the season after overtaking Albon in the pit lane when the latter was released right in front of him. The kicker? Albon wasn’t penalized. According to the stewards: Yuki’s move wasn’t safe, but Albon’s release was. Apparently the definition of ‘safe’ now includes needing to take evasive action in a live pit lane. Yuki explained that braking could’ve caused a lock-up and rear-end collision, so he went right to avoid it. Stewards agreed it wasn’t dangerous enough to penalize Albon… but Yuki still gets the black mark. It wasn’t even a surprise—after four warnings last weekend, the stewards said future pit lane overtakes could result in penalties. And here we are.
Furious Albon, Welcome Back GA2LY, and Other Highlights
Let’s not forget that Luke Browning had to dodge Albon earlier in the session, too. It’s giving… team comms breakdown. Wowch is right.
Out of nowhere, Pierre Gasly dropped it into P2 and reminded the world why we liked him in the first place.
Lando P1 again, looking calm and confident. Lewis is driving like he’s on a warm-up lap for brunch and still getting P3. But his car was bouncing again, and that’s never a good sign. Despite a new floor, the SF-25 still looked unstable mid-corner.
From P11 down, it’s all rookies…and Stroll. Doohan, Lawson, Tsunoda, and Piastri all in the Top 10. Antonelli, well his gearbox was yeeted. Looks like there’s some work to be done before FP2. F1 broadcast didn’t do Vesti any favours with cuts of four lock-ups in the first ten minutes featuring the reserve driver.