Perez fastest as Alonso splits Red Bulls in first practice
The Mexican posted a 1m32.758s on soft tyres to top the first hour of practice in Bahrain, but it was Alonso who caught the eye as he managed to split the Red Bulls to further increase the early hype around Aston Martin.
Alonso ended up 0.438s slower than Perez and outpaced fellow double world champion Verstappen on the same tyre compound.
Lando Norris was fourth-fastest but 1.4s off the pace for McLaren, ahead of Charles Leclerc, who was the fastest of the medium tyre runners despite seeing his session hampered by some dramatic wobbling on Ferrari’s new rear wing.
Lance Stroll was sixth as he returned to action for Aston Martin having missed pre-season testing after breaking his wrist in a cycling accident.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen took seventh, ahead of Alfa Romeo duo Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes opted against running on the soft tyres as Lewis Hamilton ended up 10th ahead of teammate George Russell, with both over two seconds adrift on the medium compound.
Carlos Sainz had a big spin in his Ferrari on his way to propping up the timesheets in 20th.
