Hamilton languishes in fourth some 1.2-seconds off the pace.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc edged out team mate and four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel to go fastest in Friday's opening practice for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas, who won the season-opening race in Australia two weeks ago, was third quickest for Mercedes and 0.974 seconds off Leclerc's pace. Ferrari, tipped as pre-season favourites, were surprisingly slow in Australia but have the best record of any team in Bahrain with six wins from 14 races there.While Ferrari looked to be back on form, the track conditions in Friday's first session are unrepresentative of a race held in the late evening and under floodlights.
Team mate Pierre Gasly was sixth ahead of Carlos Sainz whose Renault-powered McLaren was fitted with new power unit elements.Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top 10 for Alfa Romeo. Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, running a new chassis this weekend after retirement in the Australian season-opener, was 11th.
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