An improvement for Alonso but he's 0.5s off Perez's early benchmark.
A big improvement from Perez to go 0.7s clear of Alonso at the top of the timesheets.
Hamilton's first lap puts him fourth, 1.1s off.
He slots into third overall, 0.3s off Alonso's top time.
Let's see what the reigning world champion can do.
He's usually on it from the start.
The Aston Martin hype train continues as Alonso takes to the top with a 1m35.048s, less than a tenth ahead of Perez.
That goes to Norris with a 1m37.462s.
That's soon beaten by Perez in the Red Bull, 2.3s clear of the McLaren driver.
15 of the 20 cars are out on track.
Verstappen, Stroll, Magnussen, Hamilton and Russell are in the pit lane.
Green light at the end of the pit lane. We're GO!
Albon and Sargeant are the first two drivers to head out.
We're excited!
Hello and welcome to the 2023 F1 season. We're back!
First practice kicks off at 11:30am in Bahrain; second practice takes place at 3pm.
We'll be bringing you all the action throughout the day.