Bahrain – Free Practice 2: The Mercedes still in front, Button surprises!

After the first practice session held under the sun, night fell in Bahrain at 18:00 local time (17:00 French time) for the second Free Practice session. Consequently, the temperature naturally dropped: 20 degrees in the air compared to 24 degrees on the track. This allowed for work in conditions similar to Sunday’s race, with the three varieties of tires provided by Pirelli this weekend: the classic soft and medium tires, as well as the super-soft tires, also available for this second round of the season.

Mercedes, (well) above the pack.

From the first fifteen minutes, the Mercedes cars took the lead on the timing sheets, with Nico Rosberg setting the first true benchmark time on soft tires.

But very quickly, the Williams cars of Bottas and Massa took the opportunity to don the super-soft tires. The two drivers from the Grove team were quickly imitated by the rest of the field. The best time was thus set after an hour of the session, still by Nico Rosberg. Trailed by Hamilton in sector 1, Nico Rosberg made the necessary effort in the second and especially in the last sector to position himself in the lead with a time of 1:31:001.

This time naturally beats the Pole Position time from 2015. At the time, Lewis Hamilton had set a time of 1:32.571, but with soft tires.

The openness of tire strategies proves to be beneficial in terms of pure performance: the times achieved by Mercedes on this track are approaching the benchmarks of 2005, the last year of the V10s!

The surprise of the day: Jenson Button third!

Behind the two Mercedes, a very nice surprise for the McLaren-Honda team. The pure performance is there for Jenson Button with a third fastest time of 1:32.281, more than a second off Nico Rosberg’s time nonetheless. The British veteran will have the heavy task of supporting and helping Stoffel Vandoorne for his very first weekend. That said, the 2009 World Champion reported a loss of power on the straight during the session, which could be concerning for the rest of the weekend.

The Belgian driver finishes his first official day of running in eleventh position. The rookie of this weekend will certainly remember this Friday for a long time, after arriving urgently this morning from Japan to replace Fernando Alonso at short notice.

Vettel and Grosjean hit by troubles.

For once, Ferrari does not position itself as the second force on the grid tonight. A more mixed second session for Sebastian Vettel, who had to come to a stop in turn 11. A faulty wheel nut is apparently the cause of the German’s misfortune, who couldn’t even set a proper time after making a mistake on his lap with super-soft tires.

After Kimi Räikkönen’s setbacks in Australia, the reliability of the Scuderia is still lacking at the start of the season. The Finn still had a productive session, finishing in fifth position after completing 38 laps.

Virtual Safety Car: Vettel forced to pull off the track with engine trouble #FP2 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/gzgvpkxJ9a

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 1, /f1/actualite/20830-bahrein-essais-libres-1-rosberg-devant-hamilton-et-raikkonen.html

The cars powered by Ferrari indeed had a poor session. Romain Grosjean, for his part, encountered front wing issues, as had already been the case this winter in Barcelona. But there is also a positive for the American team, with Esteban Gutierrez in 12th place and especially just three-tenths off the Top 10.

Debris scattered on track from @RGrosjean holds session up #FP2 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/WglVA08L1J— Formula 1 (@F1) April 1, /f1/actualite/20830-bahrein-essais-libres-1-rosberg-devant-hamilton-et-raikkonen.html

On the side of strong performances, the Red Bull team is in good standing, with Daniil Kvyat in seventh and Daniel Ricciardo in ninth. They are joined at this level of the standings by the Williams of Bottas and Massa, in eighth and tenth, respectively.

FULL PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP2) #FP2 #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tmoRdjQ6HL

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 1, /f1/actualite/20830-bahrein-essais-libres-1-rosberg-devant-hamilton-et-raikkonen.html