Formula 1 DFS Notes from Bahrain Grand Prix Practice

The Formula 1 season kicks off Sunday with the Bahrain Grand Prix, and DraftKings is offering a big DFS contest for the event. Defending champion Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton headline the event, while George Russell has taken a step up with the move to Mercedes. I’ll be breaking it all down for DFS.

We have two practice sessions Friday and Saturday and qualifying Saturday. The practice sessions provide a little bit of insight into the cars’ performance, but we will truly see the cars pushed to the limit during qualifying, and that is where we truly see where cars stand. 

After the first practice session, these were the top 10 times we saw:

1. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 1.34.193 
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1.34.557
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1.34.611
4. George Russell, Mercedes, 1.34.629
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1.34.742
6. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1.34.814
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.34.943
8. Fernando Alonso, Alpine, 1.35.000
9. Yuki Tsonoda, AlphaTauri, 1.35.028
10. Sergio Perez, Red Bull, 1.35.050

In the first practice, Valtteri Bottas was only able to complete two out laps and did not record a practice time due to issues with his cars. We also saw Alpine lose part of their sidepod during the practice session. This side pod that Alpine lost was a new design they were testing on Ocon car and will more than likely go back to the design on Alonso car for the race. 

These were the top 10 times of the second practice session:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1.31.936
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1.32.023
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1.32.520
4. George Russell, Mercedes, 1.32.529
5. Fernando Alonso, Alpine, 1.32.877
6. Valterri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1.32.951
7. Sergio Perez, Red Bull, 1.32.958
8. Mick Schumacher, Haas, 1.33.085
9. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.33.144
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, 1.33.183

Practice Session 2 was held in the evening with cooler temps, so we saw first-practice leader Pierre Gasly drop out of top 10 after he was heard complaining about a lack of grip in the cooler conditions. Also, AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsonoda is being investigated for impeding a Leclerc lap along with an incident with Lance Stroll, so we might see some penalties. Lewis Hamilton is still struggling with porpoising and experienced a front brake issue in this session. The Williams cars are looking like they are going to be the Haas of this season, as they do not show anything too enticing about them. Haas looked very strong in Practice Session 2 with both drivers finishing in top 10 for lap times. 

The drivers who stand out the most to me so far are Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of Team Ferrari. They have been consistently at the top of the pack in practice as well as in the various testing situations. Other standouts:

• Mick Schumacher of Haas — Haas was the laughing stock of last year, but their car has vastly improved this year as they spent the majority of last year focusing on it
• George Russell of Mercedes
• Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri

I will be avoiding Williams drivers as they look to be the new Haas of this season, as well avoiding Alpha Romeo, with some of the issues we saw in the Practice sessions.