The third round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with two practice sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, as teams prepared for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 5.412-kilometer track took place amid extremely hot conditions, a marked contrast following the cold, rain-soaked Chinese Grand Prix last weekend in Shanghai.
Leading the way in FP1 was Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, whose fastest lap of 1:32.697 was .400 of a second better than the next quickest driver, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
First free practice results:
| 1. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 01:32.697 | 21 | |
| 2. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 01:33.097 | 22 | |
| 3. | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 01:33.566 | 23 | |
| 4. | S. Perez | Force India | 01:34.095 | 22 | |
| 5. | F. Massa | Williams | 01:34.246 | 24 | |
| 6. | L. Stroll | Williams | 01:34.322 | 25 | |
| 7. | E. Ocon | Force India | 01:34.332 | 23 | |
| 8. | F. Alonso | McLaren | 01:34.372 | 14 | |
| 9. | R. Grosjean | Haas | 01:34.564 | 21 | |
| 10. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:34.636 | 28 | |
| 11. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 01:34.838 | 13 | |
| 12. | N. Hulkenberg | Renault | 01:34.927 | 13 | |
| 13. | S. Vandoorne | McLaren | 01:34.997 | 10 | |
| 14. | V. Bottas | Mercedes | 01:35.002 | 27 | |
| 15. | J. Palmer | Renault | 01:35.068 | 19 | |
| 16. | K. Magnussen | Haas | 01:35.579 | 21 | |
| 17. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 01:35.888 | 23 | |
| 18. | P. Wehrlein | Sauber | 01:35.959 | 23 | |
| 19. | C. Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 01:36.079 | 16 | |
| 20. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 01:42.333 | 6 |
As the sun dropped over the horizon and the track’s floodlights illuminated the desert circuit, lap times continued to drop, eclipsing the race lap record of 1:31.447 set by Pedro de la Rosa in 2005 with McLaren and inching ever closer to the qualifying record of 1:29.493 set last year by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel remained the fastest driver on Friday, with a quick FP2 time of 1:31.310 keeping him atop the speed charts. The fast lap was .041 of a second better than the next best lap put up by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Second free practice results:
| 1. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 01:31.310 | 29 | |
| 2. | V. Bottas | Mercedes | 01:31.351 | 35 | |
| 3. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 01:31.376 | 28 | |
| 4. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 01:31.478 | 34 | |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:31.594 | 35 | |
| 6. | N. Hulkenberg | Renault | 01:31.883 | 37 | |
| 7. | F. Massa | Williams | 01:32.079 | 37 | |
| 8. | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 01:32.245 | 18 | |
| 9. | R. Grosjean | Haas | 01:32.505 | 34 | |
| 10. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 01:32.707 | 35 | |
| 11. | K. Magnussen | Haas | 01:32.854 | 33 | |
| 12. | E. Ocon | Force India | 01:32.875 | 38 | |
| 13. | J. Palmer | Renault | 01:32.876 | 38 | |
| 14. | F. Alonso | McLaren | 01:32.897 | 31 | |
| 15. | S. Perez | Force India | 01:33.319 | 34 | |
| 16. | L. Stroll | Williams | 01:33.361 | 36 | |
| 17. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 01:33.944 | 34 | |
| 18. | C. Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 01:34.072 | 5 | |
| 19. | P. Wehrlein | Sauber | 01:34.117 | 29 | |
| 20. | S. Vandoorne | McLaren | 01:34.230 | 8 |
