PRACTICE TWO
Report: Fernando Alonso was third this evening, just as he was in the first session in Bahrain. The Spaniard stopped the clocks in 1.35.360, completed 28 laps. Fernando and the entire field managed to improve their times considerably in the second session. That was down to a cleaner track, but most of all to a drop in temperature after the sun set.
Kimi Raikkonen had a more complicated time this evening, still not getting the F14 T to his liking. The Finn’s best time was a 1.36.366, which was good enough for 14th place. Over the final 35 minutes of the 90 available, the Finn, like all the others didn’t bother chasing lap times, but concentrated on a long run, using the Medium tyre to run a comparison with Alonso who used the Softs up the final minutes. Kimi did 33 laps.
Once again Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheet in 1.34.325 ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was over three tenths down.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.325s 28
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.690s +0.365 31
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.360s +1.035 28
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m35.433s +1.108 28
5. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m35.442s +1.117 13
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.528s +1.203 21
7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m35.606s +1.281 29
8. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m35.640s +1.315 31
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.662s +1.337 22
10. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m35.802s +1.477 40
11. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m35.920s +1.595 9
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m35.972s +1.647 32
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m35.998s +1.673 18
14. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m36.366s +2.041 32
15. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.962s +2.637 13
16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.975s +2.650 35
17. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m37.259s +2.934 24
18. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m37.599s +3.274 23
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m37.800s +3.475 15
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m38.247s +3.922 10
21. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m38.257s +3.932 33
22. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m39.136s +4.811 30
QUOTES
Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall, this was a difficult day, because I didn’t feel comfortable with the car in either session. In the first one, I damaged the floor on the kerb at turn 4 and this meant I had to pit. The team did a super job, because they got me back out on track in a short time, but then, because of a problem with the brakes, I was unable to complete the programme. In the second session we concentrated on looking at the two Pirelli compounds and with the Soft it was definitely better than the Medium. Now we will get down to analysing all today’s data, especially regarding the immediate change in the track from day to night and we will try and improve for qualifying and the race.”
PRACTICE ONE
Report: Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were third and sixth respectively in first free practice in Bahrain. Fernando did 17 laps at the wheel of his F14 T with a best of 1.37.953, four tenths off the pace of fastest man, Lewis Hamilton who did a 1.37.502 with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg second.
Raikkonen’s best lap was a 1.38.783, although he only managed 12 laps.
Finn hit a kerb very hard and had to pit so the floor of the car could be checked. Air temperature was 25 with the track at 45, but that’s likely to change significantly in the second session, which will run in the dusk, seeing the floodlights brought into play for the first time here.
The session starts at the same time as tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, so it will be a useful exercise.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m37.502s 14
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m37.733s +0.231s 13
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.953s +0.451s 17
4. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m38.122s +0.620s 10
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.636s +1.134s 16
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m38.783s +1.281s 12
7. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.949s +1.447s 15
8. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m39.056s +1.554s 24
9. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m39.102s +1.600s 21
10. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.389s +1.887s 16
11. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m39.533s +2.031s 11
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m39.862s +2.360s 26
13. Felipe Nasr Williams-Mercedes 1m40.078s +2.576s 14
14. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m40.406s +2.904s 19
15. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.652s +3.150s 20
16. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m40.793s +3.291s 31
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m40.$89s +3.387s 20
18. Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.913s +3.411s 20
19. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m41.036s +3.534s 24
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m41.794s +4.292s 20
21. Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault 1m42.417s +4.915s 35
22. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m42.711s +5.209s 21
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
Kimi’s fastest lap time gap to Alonso is 1 second!!! That is quite big… sweat!
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As a kimi fan, I do hope that this doesnt become the norm on Fridays. If kimi keeps on getting it wrong on Friday program and waste pressure time on setting then we can all just kiss this season goodbye. Mercedes are hardly doing anything and they are just driving around for fun.
I’m very dissapointed with Ferrari management, I expected better and faster. With the technical personnel and the infrastructure they should have resolved all the major issues in a relatively short time. 2 and a half races and still stuck in the mud….
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