George Russell made a dream debut on his first outing as seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton’s stand-in, clocking the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Sakhir Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old, who has been given the seat in Hamilton’s Mercedes after the Briton tested positive for COVID-19, lapped the 3.5 kilometre outer circuit of the desert track, which also hosted last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, in 54.546 seconds.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon were second and third respectively, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas only managing fourth, 0.322 seconds off the pace.
The Alpha Tauri duo of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were fifth and sixth respectively, while Ferrari saw Sebastian Vettel finish eighth and Charles Leclerc 10th.
Australia’s Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo was ninth on the timesheets.