F1: Hamilton Has Way In First Bahrain Practice

Formula 1

F1: Hamilton Has Way In First Bahrain Practice

Lewis Hamilton's McLaren turned the quickest lap in the opening round of practice in Bahrain...

Jared Turner | Posted April 20, 2012 Dubai (ARE)

For better or worse, Formula One and Bahrain International Circuit officials are pushing ahead toward Sunday's controversial Bahrain GP.

So far, so good at least for Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren driver, who has finished third in each of the season's three races to date, set the pace in opening practice Friday as on-track activities got under way while tensions continue to linger from reports of ongoing protests and civil unrest in the host island Kingdom.

Hamilton, who on Saturday will be seeking his third pole of 2012, clocked in at 1:33:572 to lead Free Practice One by three tenths of a second and change over a resurgent Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull RB8 toured the 5.412-kilometer circuit at 1:33:877.

Force India's Paul Di Resta was next at 1:34:150.

The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, fresh off his first career GP victory a week ago in China, was fourth at 1:34:249.

McLaren's Jenson Button completed the top five.

Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, and Romain Grosjean filled out the rest of the top 10.

Ferrari's 2012 struggles continued as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa timed in just 13th and 15th quickest, respectively.

Three different winners have tasted victory in the season's first three events as Button (Australia), Alonso (Malaysia) and Rosberg (China) have each broken through.

Hamilton is the World Championship leader, holding a two-point edge over teammate Button and an eight-point cushion over third-place Alonso.

While matters have been eventful off the track since teams began arriving in Bahrain on Wednesday, the opening 90-minute practice was fairly tame as no major incidents occurred.

Free Practice Two gets under way at 7 a.m. ET Friday with live coverage on SPEED.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.