Gabriel Bortoleto ended the opening free practice session of the FIA Formula 3 season on top, setting a 1:47.775 for the Trident team.
Bortoleto, who is a rookie in the F3 field, continues his strong form from testing as he also set the fastest lap of the entire test.
The session is a valuable outing for all drivers as it is the only time they get to practice before being thrust into qualifying.
Gabriele Mini, who is signed to the Alpine Academy programme, was second place on the timesheet, 0.072s down on Bortoleto.
Gregoire Saucy was the fastest of the returnees in third place, with rookie Luke Browning, whose seat was only confirmed earlier this week, slotting into four place for Hitech Grand Prix.
Leonardo Fornaroli was sixth fastest, marginally behind Caio Collet who as switched to the Van Amersfoort team for the 2023 campaign.
Paul Aron was the quickest of the Prema drivers in seventh, ahead of Williams junior driver Franco Colapinto, who will be hoping to repeat his pole position from Bahrain 12 months ago.
Kaylen Frederick was ninth, while the second Prema car of Zak O’Sullivan rounded out the top 10.
Qualifying from the Bahrain International Circuit will get underway later today at 16:00 local time, where the first championship points of the season will be issued.
