Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRace weekend

Follow FP1 for the Bahrain Grand Prix live

Follow live coverage of the first free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix with F1i’s updated live page.

The second race weekend of the season gets underway at 1400 local time at the Bahrain International Circuit, with FP1 and FP3 taking place in the heat of the day while FP2, qualifying and the race take place after sunset.

Ferrari will be looking to build on its encouraging performance in Australia to take the fight to Mercedes once again, although Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton secured another one-two in Melbourne. Wet weather limited running throughout Friday at the first race, but the forecast in Bahrain is much better despite rain on Thursday.

There will be a first chance to drive the McLaren MP4-31 for Stoffel Vandoorne ahead of his grand prix debut, with the 2015 GP2 champion replacing the injured Fernando Alonso this weekend. Alonso will remain in Bahrain to provide support to the team having been ruled out with fractured ribs following his crash in Australia.

F1i's live page has been updated to bring you a better user experience, while the coverage will bring you all the latest information about what is happening on track as well as news and features from the paddock.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.