Lewis Hamilton a terminé en tête des essais libres du vendredi à Bahreïn. Max Verstappen est 2e. Valtteri Bottas a réussi le 3e temps et Sergio Perez a fait le 4e temps. Daniel Riccardo, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat et Alexander Albon sont tous du top 10.
| Pos | No | Pilote | Équipe | Temps | Écart | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.971 | 28 | |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:29.318 | +0.347s | 34 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.336 | +0.365s | 30 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:29.403 | +0.432s | 32 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:29.462 | +0.491s | 27 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:29.551 | +0.580s | 36 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:29.841 | +0.870s | 30 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:29.871 | +0.900s | 32 |
| 9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:29.900 | +0.929s | 34 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:30.014 | +1.043s | 17 |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1:30.085 | +1.114s | 30 |
| 12 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:30.110 | +1.139s | 35 |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 1:30.271 | +1.300s | 33 |
| 14 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.407 | +1.436s | 30 |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:30.627 | +1.656s | 33 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:30.849 | +1.878s | 27 |
| 17 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:30.928 | +1.957s | 34 |
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 1:30.973 | +2.002s | 32 |
| 19 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.119 | +2.148s | 28 |
| 20 | 63 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.636 | +2.665s | 29 |