BIC, Sakhir: Nico Rosberg topped the Formula One Practice time-sheets as the 2015 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix got underway at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir on Friday.
Rosberg powered his Mercedes to the fastest time overall during the day’s second hour-and-a-half session held under BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights. The German’s best lap was 1min 34.647secs.
Kimi Raikkonen had earlier put Ferrari in first place during the first practice held in the early afternoon. Raikkonen’s best lap was 1min 37.827secs.
The Formula One practices were the highlight of a spectacular Friday at BIC where fans enjoyed an action-packed day on the tarmac.
Rosberg managed to pip teammate Lewis Hamilton by a mere 0.115s as the defending World champions showed that they are still the team to beat heading into the fourth Grand Prix of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The Mercedes pair was more than a half-second ahead of the rest of the pack, with Raikkonen placing third in the overall times for the day. He was 0.527s off of Rosberg’s pace for his best of the evening, which saw track temperatures in the low 30s.
Sebastian Vettel followed in fourth to confirm Ferrari’s strength in the desert with a best lap 0.630s from first place.
Valtteri Bottas (+0.633s) of Williams was ranked fifth for the day, Daniel Ricciardo (+0.802s) of Red Bull Racing sixth, Pastor Maldonado (+0.827s) of Lotus was seventh and Felipe Nasr (+1.146s) of Sauber rounded out the top eight.
Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull was ninth, Felipe Massa of Williams 10th, Marcus Ericsson for Sauber was 11th and Fernando Alonso for McLaren 12th.
Rounding out the bottom eight were Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, Force India’s Sergio Perez, Manor’s Will Stevens, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Manor’s Roberto Merhi.
Vettel and Perez had a collision towards the end of the second practice as Vettel was leaving the pitlane and heading towards Turn One.
In the early afternoon practice, held with track temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius, Raikkonen topped the timesheet with a fastest lap of 1min 37.827secs.
Vettel followed 0.202s behind, while Bottas put Williams in third +0.536s off the pace.
Sainz Jr (+0.620S) was fourth from the top, followed by Daniel Ricciardo (+0.628s) of Red Bull in fifth and Verstappen (+0.677s) in sixth.
Alonso and Nasr completed the top eight, while Kvyat and Massa rounded out the fastest 10.
Ranked in the lower half of the classification was Perez, Maldonado, Hulkenberg, test driver Joylon Palmer sitting in for Grosjean, Rosberg, Hamilton, Ericsson, Stevens and Merhi.
Button’s car switched off in Turn One just as he had come out for the session and was the only driver of the field of 20 not to set a time.
The weekend’s Third Practice in Formula One takes place Saturday starting at 3pm and ending an hour later. That will then set the stage for Qualifying, scheduled for a 6pm start.