Bahrain GP: Williams Martini 3rd & 10th in FP1

Team Summary:
Both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa come out early for their installation laps. Both were on the medium tyre. The first time was a 1m:40.077 from Rosberg. Both Williams drivers had the use of an extra set of medium tyres for the first thirty minutes. Twenty minutes into the session and Valtteri was quickest and Felipe third. Valtteri would drop to second as Vettel went quickest with a 1m:39.202. Valtteri was now third behind Raikkonen and Vettel. Both Williams cars were back in the pits with Valtteri third and Felipe seventh with an hour remaining. Pat Symonds would say that the team was looking at front wing data. Valtteri would drop to fifth as Perez went quickest with a 1m:38.793 and Hulkenberg third. Alonso was now quickest with a 1m:38.598 only to be beaten by Verstappen with a 1m:38.504.

With thirty five minutes remaining both Williams drivers had dropped down the order but upon their return Valtteri would go quickest while Felipe was sixth. Both Williams cars were running with the word Racing replacing Martini due to alcohol restrictions in Bahrain. Both Felipe and Valtteri would have lock ups going into Turn ten. On one lap Valtteri would run wide under braking. Both Williams drivers continued to circulate around the track. Both drivers had completed twenty laps with just under ten minutes remaining. The session would end with Valtteri third and Felipe tenth. Valtteri was 0.5s off the quickest time and Felipe 0.963s behind. Despite being off the times this first session was far from representative of the track conditions as they would be for the race.

Felipe Massa:
After his installation lap Felipe would be first back out for Williams. Felipe's first time was a 1m:48.431, to see him fifth. Felipe would follow Valtteri going quickest in sector one and would finish with 1m:39.731 to be third. Felipe would have a minor lockup of the right front at Turn one. Felipe had dropped to fifth, which would become seventh. Felipe would follow Valtteri into the pits with Frank Williams watching on. Felipe would take a front wing adjustment as he waited to come back out. With forty five minutes remaining Felipe had dropped to ninth. Felipe would be the first to return to the track, currently in fourteenth, still on the medium tyre. Felipe was now sixth with a time of 1m:38.790, to be 0.400 behind Valtteri. Felipe would have an off-track moment at Turn ten but would continue. Felipe would pit as he dropped to tenth.

Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri was running with some aero monitoring devices assessing the air flow behind the front right tyre. These would be removed as he came out for his first timed laps. Valtteri would go quickest in sector one and would finish his lap with a 1m:39.206 to be quickest. This would become second seeing him behind Vettel. This would become third as Raikkonen went fastest. Valtteri would pit having completed six laps. Valtteri would get a front wing change at his stop. Valtteri would follow Felipe out with just under thirty minutes remaining. Valtteri would go quickest with a 1m:38.390. Valtteri would drop to third as Raikkonen and Vettel went quicker. Valtteri would pit ending his long run as the final minutes counted down. Valtteri would return after coming to a brief stop in his pit box. He would come back in completing a practice pit stop to end his practice.

Pos  Driver         	Team		        Time     Laps
1  Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari			1m37.827s 13
2  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			1m38.029s 12
3  Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1m38.390s 23
4  Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso-Renault	1m38.447s 14
5  Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1m38.455s 17
6  Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1m38.504s 22
7  Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		1m38.598s 18
8  Felipe Nasr		Sauber-Ferrari		1m38.628s 17
9  Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull-Renault	1m38.661s 17
10 Felipe Massa		Williams-Mercedes	1m38.790s 21
11 Sergio Perez		Force India-Mercedes	1m38.793s 15
12 Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes		1m38.842s 23
13 Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1m39.187s 20
14 Jolyon Palmer	Lotus-Mercedes		1m39.283s 31
15 Nico Rosberg		Mercedes		1m39.293s 23
16 Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1m39.532s 22
17 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		1m39.534s 21
18 Will Stevens		Marussia-Ferrari	1m42.973s 12
19 Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	1m44.265s 15
20 Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		-	  2