Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri set pace in the first practice session in the new era of Formula 1 as reigning world champion Max Verstappen came fifth at Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday. 

Gasly was on soft tires as he recorded 1m 34.193s. He was 0.364s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who on medium tyres had a 360-degree before recovering. The Monaco driver’s team mate Carlos Sainz came third.

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Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, finished behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell. The 37-year-old was the  seventh quickest as Russell, who replaced Valtteri Bottas, came fourth. 

Verstappen was .549 behind Gasly with Hamilton .75 back from Gasly’s time. The practice session was interrupted by a red flag when some bodywork came off Esteban Ocon’s Alpine car and spread debris on the track.

Sebastian Vettel’s replacement at Aston Martin, German driver Nico Hulkenberg, rolled over the debris.

A second practice session is scheduled later Friday under floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

Here are the standings: 

Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 1:34.193 23

Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:34.557 +0.364s 22

Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:34.611 +0.418s 23

George Russell MERCEDES 1:34.629 +0.436s 23

Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:34.742 +0.549s 22

Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:34.814 +0.621s 22

Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:34.943 +0.750s 17

Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:35.000 +0.807s 14

Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI RBPT 1:35.028 +0.835s 20

Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:35.050 +0.857s 23

Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:35.053 +0.860s 20

Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:35.151 +0.958s 15

Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:35.644 +1.451s 15

Nico Hulkenberg ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:35.815 +1.622s 23

Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:35.923 +1.730s 17

Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:36.304 +2.111s 22

Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:36.402 +2.209s 20

Mick Schumacher HAAS FERRARI 1:36.536 +2.343s 23

Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:36.804 +2.611s 21

Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 2