Bahrain – FP2: Ferrari Positions Itself, Hamilton Dives for Penalty
At the end of the second free practice session, Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time in his Ferrari while the news broke for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalized five grid spots for Sunday due to equipping a new gearbox from FP3 onwards.
Night falls on the 5.412 km Sakhir circuit. The ambient temperature is 28°C. The drivers are ready to improve their times from FP1. This session proves to be essential as it’s held under the same conditions as the qualifying and the race.
If the times are initiated by the Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, the times are regularly improving as the session progresses until the blistering time of Kimi Räikkönen, finishing his lap in 1:30.689 on worn soft tires.
Once the soft tires were set aside in favor of the super softs, the various attacks from Bottas and Hamilton did not hinder the Finnish Ferrari driver’s chase for the fastest time, as he further improved his time to 1:29:817. Beyond performance, Iceman made headlines during the session for other reasons. Indeed, the Finn experienced the same mishaps as the Haas team in Melbourne, namely… a stop due to a loose wheel 15 minutes before the end of the session.
YELLOW FLAG
Kimi parks up with what appears to be a loose front-right wheel#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/WyPLzYRWL9
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 avril 2018
If this seemingly surprising issue appears to be recurring among teams associated with the Ferrari engine block since the new season, it does not prevent Kimi Räikkönen from maintaining the best time in these free practice sessions 2 ahead of his teammate.
Another Finn did not distinguish himself by his maneuver on the track since a collision was narrowly avoided between Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.
BOT: “Did I block his lap?”
RIC: “What a ****” 🤬Ricciardo encounters a slow Valtteri Bottas at Turn 4#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/mNRxDl6muC
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2018
Lewis Hamilton, after making a mistake at a corner, finishes fourth in the session but also receives a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. This new gearbox will equip his Mercedes starting tomorrow in FP3.
Ferrari seems to have a significant advantage for the rest of the weekend, both psychologically and statistically, but caution is advised regarding the potential comeback of the Briton on a circuit where overtaking is possible.
