FP1: Hamilton tops first Bahrain GP practice

Friday 20th April 2012, 09:46 by Ryan Wood

© Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton topped the first Friday practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel by over three tenths.

The McLaren driver completed just 11 laps, joint fewest with Heikki Kovalainen, as they limited their running on thr dusty, sand covered circuit.

Paul di Resta held P3 for Force India ahead of last weekend's winner Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg.

The session was fairly uneventful, with only minor incidents occurring on-track. Timo Glock span his Marussia but recovered to the pits, whilst a handful of cars ran wide, particularly at turn 10.

In news off the track, Force India are reportedly considering skipping second practice because it would mean travelling back to their hotels in the dark and after Wednesday's events, that's something they're keen to avoid. However, it's believed Bernie Ecclestone is keen to avoid such embarrassment and is negotiating with the team.

2012 Bahrain GP FP1 Results:

#	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
01.	L. Hamilton	McLaren	1:33.572		11
02.	S. Vettel	Red Bull	1:33.877	+0.305	21
03.	P. di Resta	Force India	1:34.150	+0.578	26
04.	N. Rosberg	Mercedes	1:34.249	+0.677	23
05.	J. Button	McLaren	1:34.277	+0.705	14
06.	N. Hulkenberg	Force India	1:34.344	+0.772	26
07.	M. Schumacher	Mercedes	1:34.483	+0.911	17
08.	M. Webber	Red Bull	1:34.552	+0.980	22
09.	K. Raikkonen	Lotus	1:34.609	+1.037	18
10.	R. Grosjean	Lotus	1:34.847	+1.275	20
11.	S. Perez	Sauber	1:35.024	+1.452	22
12.	P. Maldonado	Williams	1:35.268	+1.696	25
13.	F. Alonso	Ferrari	1:35.436	+1.864	21
14.	V. Bottas	Williams	1:35.497	+1.925	24
15.	F. Massa	Ferrari	1:35.719	+2.147	19
16.	K. Kobayashi	Sauber	1:35.929	+2.357	24
17.	J. Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:36.195	+2.623	20
18.	H. Kovalainen	Caterham	1:36.330	+2.758	11
19.	V. Petrov	Caterham	1:36.484	+2.912	18
20.	D. Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:36.591	+3.019	20
21.	C. Pic	Marussia	1:37.467	+3.895	18
22.	T. Glock	Marussia	1:38.006	+4.434	18
23.	P. de la Rosa	HRT	1:38.877	+5.305	19
24.	N. Karthikeyan	HRT	1:39.996	+6.424	23

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