F1 qualifying LIVE: Bahrain GP practice lap times as Max Verstappen fights Ferrari for pole

Lewis Hamilton has agreed to donate £42,000 to the FIA after he failed to attend last December’s Formula One prize-giving ceremony in Paris.

Hamilton and his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff boycotted the event which was staged five days after Max Verstappen controversially won the world championship in Abu Dhabi.

The sport’s rules dictate that the drivers finishing first, second and third in the championship must be in attendance.

And on the eve of the new season, Hamilton has now been officially sanctioned by the FIA. The seven-time world champion was also “reminded of his obligation of sportsmanship”.

Lewis Hamilton said he will not be able to win Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix after he finished a distant ninth in practice.

Hamilton arrived for the opening round of the Formula One season fearing his Mercedes machine would not be a contender for victory.

And, while times in practice are treated with caution as teams trial different tyres, fuel loads and engine settings, Hamilton’s concerns became reality.

The Briton, seventh in the first action of the day, then finished an eye-watering 1.2 seconds behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – the man who denied him a record eighth title at last season’s contentious decider in Abu Dhabi – and six tenths adrift of his new Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Ferrari followed up their encouraging pre-season form, with Charles Leclerc second and Carlos Sainz third in the other scarlet car. Russell finished fourth.

“I am just realistic, and at the moment, like I told you last week, we are not going to be in the race for a win,” said Hamilton.

“If you look at the Red Bulls, they are a long, long way ahead, in the region of eight to nine tenths, and Ferrari are half a second to six tenths ahead.

“So we are a long way off, and we are not bluffing like people assumed we were. We have had small problems in the past, but we are faced with much, much bigger problems this year, and everything we do to try and fix it doesn’t really change that.

“It appears as though this will be a long-term fix and not one for the short term. The mindset is still to be the best we can be. It is not ideal but we will pull together and try and fix it.”

Follow live updates from Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying as the drivers battle for the first first pole of the 2022 F1 season. Friday’s practice saw the reigning world champion Max Verstappen impress in his Red Bull while Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both showed impressive pace, while Pierre Gasly was also quick in the AlphaTauri.

However, Mercedes looked a long way off the pace and seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and new team mate George Russell saw no quick fix. Hamilton was ninth in the second session at Sakhir, with Russell fourth. The pair were seventh and fourth respectively in the opening practice.