Bahrain GP: Free Practice #2 - RE-CAP & TIMES

BAHRAIN GP - FREE PRACTICE #2 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    
    Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari 1-2 in the second free practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Raikkonen was just a hundreth of a second faster than team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but missed out on valuable long run simulation after a loose wheel brought an early end to his session.

    The Finn set out on super-soft tyres with a completely clear track to jump to the top of the times with a 1m29.817s.

    With Raikkonen setting the bench mark, the rest of the field quickly switched from softs to super-softs, but the busy track meant a number of drivers caught traffic on their flying lap, including Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.

    Hamilton caught up with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in the final sector of his flying lap, but his first and second sector times were already slower than that of the Ferraris.

    He ended the day fourth fastest, a tenth of a second behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

    After topping FP1, Ricciardo could only manage sixth fastest, just 0.01s behind team-mate Max Verstappen.

    Renault were best of the rest, with Nico Hulkenberg ending the day seventh overall, though team-mate Carlos Sainz was only 12th at the end of the qualifying simulations.

    A trouble free session for Toro Rosso’s Pirre Gasly put him eighth fastest, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne.

    Wheel guns were once again a topic of discussion as Raikkonen pulled to the side of the track not long after leaving the pits on a long run. One of the Ferrari’s wheels was loose and, though it didn’t come away from the car, it did bring an end to his session. The incident was investigated after the race, though Raikkonen avoided a grid penalty for the unsafe release.

    With FP2 the most representative session ahead of the Bahrain GP, a number of teams were looking to collect data about turbulent air during their long runs. Temperature management could be crucial on Sunday’s race and some, including Red Bull, used the session to simulate the race scenario.

TIMES: 

1. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:29.817 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
2. Sebastian Vettel - 1:29.828 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:30.380 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
4. Lewis Hamilton - 1:30.472 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
5. Max Verstappen – 1:30.745 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:30.751 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
7. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:31.220 / Renault-Renault / Germany
8. Pierre Gasly - 1:31.232 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
9. Fernando Alonso - 1:31.282 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
10. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:31.422 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
11. Romain Grosjean - 1:31.591 / Haas-Ferrari / France
12. Carlos Sainz - 1:31.601 / Renault-Renault / Spain
13. Esteban Ocon – 1:31.809 Force India-Mercedes / France
14. Sergio Perez – 1:31.868 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
15. Kevin Magnussen - 1:31.969 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
16. Charles Leclerc - 1:32.372 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
17. Lance Stroll - 1:32.382 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
18. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:32.474 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:32.733 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
20. Brendon Hartley - 1:32.908 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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