V prvom voľnom tréningu na Veľkú cenu Bahrajnu bol najrýchlejší jazdec tímu McLaren, Lewis Hamilton.
Výsledky 1. voľného tréningu:
| 1. | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:33.647 | 19 | |
| 2. | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:33.907 | 0.260 | 17 |
| 3. | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:33.938 | 0.291 | 17 |
| 4. | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:34.227 | 0.580 | 24 |
| 5. | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:34.434 | 0.787 | 15 |
| 6. | 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:34.502 | 0.855 | 24 |
| 7. | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:34.531 | 0.884 | 18 |
| 8. | 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:34.589 | 0.942 | 17 |
| 9. | 14 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:34.827 | 1.180 | 21 |
| 10. | 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:34.827 | 1.180 | 19 |
| 11. | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:34.880 | 1.233 | 24 |
| 12. | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:34.938 | 1.291 | 21 |
| 13. | 8 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:34.974 | 1.327 | 21 |
| 14. | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.021 | 1.374 | 18 |
| 15. | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:35.036 | 1.389 | 22 |
| 16. | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.042 | 1.395 | 16 |
| 17. | 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:35.333 | 1.686 | 20 |
| 18. | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:35.348 | 1.701 | 24 |
| 19. | 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 1:35.353 | 1.706 | 22 |
| 20. | 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:35.369 | 1.722 | 15 |
