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Antonelli tops first session of pre-season testing, Hamilton P5
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the quickest driver over the first four hours of testing in Bahrain. The Mercedes driver's fastest lap time was a 1:31.428 on the medium tyres. Liam Lawson finished in P2, while Alexander Albon rounded off the Top 3 on Wednesday morning.
Yuki Tsunoda finished in P4, while driving for Ferrari, Hamilton finished fifth. Jack Doohan finished sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman.
In terms of the number of laps completed, Antonelli topped that ranking as well. The Italian youngster did 78 laps in total, similarly to Tsunoda. Bearman completed 72 laps, while Hamilton did 70 for the Scuderia.
As it happened
It was Antonelli who first entered the track this season, with everyone but Albon and Williams following him out of the pit lane with aero rakes on inside the first couple of minutes. Hamilton also completed the first installation laps with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion had a five-lap run to start the day off sitting in the car of the Scuderia.
After the first hour, Hamilton had the fastest time on track, setting a 1:32.6 on his first attempt of completing a quicker lap on the mediums. Albon was in P2, while Alonso was third, having locked up into Turn 1. By this point Piastri was yet to set a lap time.
They yellow flag also made its first appearance 37 minutes into the session, but it was quickly removed. Five minutes after the first hour has passed, Hamilton also briefly left the track entering Sector 3.
Over the course of the second hour of the day, some good racing already took place between Albon and Hulkenberg, as the Williams driver tried to go down the inside of the German into Turn 1. Hulkenberg managed to ‘keep the position’. Additionally, Piastri also had a moment exiting Turn 2.
At the midway point of the session, Alonso led the session with a 1:31.8 on the mediums. Lawson was in P2 ahead of Hamilton, while Antonelli and Piastri were still to set a competitive lap time.
With an hour and forty minutes to go, double yellow flags were waved on track, but no incidents were shown. Turn 4 proved to be the hardest for the drivers, with both Hamilton and Lawson sliding through the corner and going wide on the exit.
With an hour left on the clock, Albon led the session, just 0.001 seconds ahead of Lawson. The driver from New Zealand also had the first big moment of the day, after he stepped on the gas too eagerly exiting Turn 2, and as a result he slid across the track exiting Turn 3. Luckily for him, not only he did not end up in the wall, but also hardly reached the gravel trap. Afterwards, he could safely return to the pit lane.
During the final hour, Antonelli locked up once into the tricky Turn 10, but after setting a competitive lap time, he topped the first session of the day.
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