New posts

A little forum update...We're planning an upgrade.

Find out more about what's planned and how you can help support the forum
Click here for the details

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Swami" data-source="post: 114195" data-attributes="member: 13">Bahrain GP: Ferrari ahead of struggling Mercedes<img src="https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/09C4/production/_95900520_bensonnew.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />By Andrew Benson<img src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/480/cpsprodpb/15F11/production/_100737898_raikkonen_reuters.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Kimi Raikkonen headed Sebastian Vettel to a Ferrari one-two in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.Mercedes appeared to be struggling - Valtteri Bottas was third and 0.563 seconds off the pace, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton 0.092secs adrift.Hamilton was blocked by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen at the last corner on his fastest lap but was already 0.4secs off the pace before that happened.Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fifth, ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.The Australian was also blocked on his fastest lap - by Bottas.It is always hard to draw an accurate conclusion as to the competitive picture from practice and that was made even more difficult in this session because both Hamilton and Raikkonen encountered problems on their fastest laps.Raikkonen suffered a lack of front grip at the final corner and lost time, while Hamilton had his trouble with Magnussen.The world champion also had to abandon his first lap on the fastest super-soft tyres after running wide at the first corner when he locked his brakes. That would have meant his tyres were not at their absolute optimum when Hamilton did his next lap.Raikkonen's session ended 15 minutes early when his car ground to a halt out on track just after Turn Three.It appeared as if a wheel might not have been attached properly at a pit stop - he had just stopped for a new set and the mechanics were waving as he left the pits.Ferrari are to face an investigation from race stewards after the session for an unsafe release from the pits and could in the worst circumstances face a grid penalty.Even Red Bull's pace was not necessarily their optimum. Verstappen edged Ricciardo by 0.006secs but Ricciardo would have been expected to be the faster Red Bull had he not been blocked by Bottas because Verstappen's weekend was compromised by missing the entire first session.Verstappen then ran out of sync with the other drivers - doing more laps at the start of the session to get a feel for the car, which meant the track would have been in better condition for him when he did his fast lap later in the session than others.The gap between the Ferraris was also small - Raikkonen had a slight edge on pace, as he had in the first race of the season in Australia, but was just 0.011secs ahead of Vettel.Best of the rest was Renault's Nico Hulkenberg in seventh, ahead of the surprising Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne.If those positions are repeated on Saturday in qualifying, it would be embarrassing for McLaren at the home race for their chief shareholders, the Bahraini sovereign investment fund.McLaren dropped Honda engines at the end of last year - at a net cost of about $100m - claiming their lack of performance and reliability was holding back a car they said was one of the best in the field.Swami</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?