German driver Adrian Sutil impressed for Force India in the first on-track running of the new season in Bahrain (Sutil 25/1 Outright Winner Bahrain GP), leading Fernando Alonso‘s (5/2) Ferrari.

Sutil recorded a lap of one minute 56.583 seconds to lead the double world champion Alonso by 0.325secs in first practice, while the much-fancied McLaren and British duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton (Button 9/4, Hamilton 2/7 Season Match Bet Hamilton/Button F1 Season Specials) set the pace early on but ended up fifth and sixth respectively – half a second off Sutil’s lap time.

Renault’s Robert Kubica and Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa occupied the third and fourth places, while further down the order Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was in eighth, two places and nearly half a second ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher.

Seven times champion Schumacher (11/2 Formula 1 – World Drivers Championship 2010) is taking part in his first race since 2006 after coming out of retirement.