Kimi Räikkönen has moved Lotus to the top of the timesheets at the conclusion of Friday’s on-track activity at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Finn narrowly edged out the Red Bull Racing duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who rounded out the top-three positions.
A short and sharp rain shower hit the Bahrain International Circuit shortly before the afternoon’s second practice session began, following Ferrari’s 1-2 on the timesheets in the morning opening practice session.
The entire field initially concentrated on more Hard-compound tyre running – in which Red Bull and the Ferraris were again fastest – before switching to the first Medium-compound running of the day. It was on these tyres that Räikkönen emerged quickest, posting two purple sectors on his fastest lap to edge out Webber by just three-hundredths of a second.
Following the Red Bull Racing duo came the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who sandwiched Paul di Resta’s Force India on the timesheets. Räikkönen’s teammate Romain Grosjean was seventh-fastest in a new E21 chassis, but was still almost half a second slower than the Finn.
Nico Rosberg was the fastest of the Mercedes runners in eighth place; he and teammate Lewis Hamilton sandwich the second Force India of Adrian Sutil.
Neither McLaren made the top-ten on the timesheets, with Jenson Button winding up eleventh quickest and teammate Sergio Pérez two spots further back.
Following on from a solid points’ finish in China last weekend, the Toro Rossos of Jean-Éric Vergne (12th) and Daniel Ricciardo (14th) were quicker than their chief rivals from Sauber and Williams, whose drivers occupied positions fifteen to eighteen.
The usual suspects from Caterham and Marussia occupied the last four positions on the timesheets, although this time it was not Jules Bianchi who led the quartet. The Frenchman finished 21st-quickest, while his compatriot Charles Pic suffered a damaged front wing when his Caterham was hit by the struggling Esteban Gutiérrez at the Turn 8 hairpin.
2013 Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Session Times:
Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | ||
1. | Kimi Räikkönen | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Renault E21 | 1:34.154 | 31 | |
2. | Mark Webber | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing Renault RB9 | 1:34.184 | + 0.030 | 26 |
3. | Sebastian Vettel | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing Renault RB9 | 1:34.282 | + 0.128 | 29 |
4. | Fernando Alonso | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F138 | 1:34.310 | + 0.156 | 29 |
5. | Paul di Resta | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes VJM06 | 1:34.543 | + 0.389 | 35 |
6. | Felipe Massa | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F138 | 1:34.552 | + 0.398 | 34 |
7. | Romain Grosjean | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Renault E21 | 1:34.631 | + 0.477 | 33 |
8. | Nico Rosberg | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W04 | 1:34.666 | + 0.512 | 37 |
9. | Adrian Sutil | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes VJM06 | 1:34.932 | + 0.778 | 33 |
10. | Lewis Hamilton | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W04 | 1:34.976 | + 0.822 | 29 |
11. | Jenson Button | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-28 | 1:35.356 | + 1.202 | 32 |
12. | Jean-Éric Vergne | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR8 | 1:35.506 | + 1.352 | 36 |
13. | Sergio Pérez | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-28 | 1:35.589 | + 1.435 | 37 |
14. | Daniel Ricciardo | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR8 | 1:35.761 | + 1.607 | 33 |
15. | Nico Hülkenberg | ![]() |
Sauber Ferrari C32 | 1:36.133 | + 1.979 | 36 |
16. | Pastor Maldonado | ![]() |
Williams Renault FW35 | 1:36.279 | + 2.125 | 33 |
17. | Valtteri Bottas | ![]() |
Williams Renault FW35 | 1:36.579 | + 2.425 | 28 |
18. | Esteban Gutiérrez | ![]() |
Sauber Ferrari C32 | 1:36.616 | + 2.462 | 34 |
19. | Charles Pic | ![]() |
Caterham Renault CT03 | 1:37.061 | + 2.907 | 33 |
20. | Max Chilton | ![]() |
Marussia Cosworth MR02 | 1:37.313 | + 3.159 | 33 |
21. | Jules Bianchi | ![]() |
Marussia Cosworth MR02 | 1:37.363 | + 3.209 | 29 |
22. | Giedo van der Garde | ![]() |
Caterham Renault CT03 | 1:37.970 | + 3.816 | 34 |
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Richard Bailey
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