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Kimi Raikkonen ended the second practice session from Bahrain on top, leading his teammate Sebastian Vettel for a Ferrari one-two. The Scuderia duo were separated by just eleven-thousandths of a second under the Sakhir floodlights.
However, it wasn't a smooth end to the session for the Finn, as he was forced to pull to the side of the track. After coming in for a practice pit-stop, his front right wheel was not attached properly, meaning his day ended 15 minutes prematurely.
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Raikkonen's fastest lap in the session read a 1:29.817, which was over half a second quicker than Mercedes' fastest time. Bottas was third for the Silver Arrows, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton who failed to post a clean qualifying sim-lap.
After an electrical issue hit Verstappen in the first practice session, the Dutchman was keen to make up for the lost time, ending up in fifth place. Behind him was his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, whose time was very close to Verstappen's.
Nico Hulkenberg and Renault were seventh, ahead of Pierre Gasly who continued to show impressive pace in his Toro Rosso. The Frenchman finished both Friday practice inside the top ten. He was ahead of McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, who rounded out the top ten.
| Hamilton | 1:36.3 |
| Bottas | 1:36.0 |
| Raikkonen | 1:35.9 |
| Ricciardo | 1:35.6 |
| Verstappen | 1:35.6 |
Haas dropped off from its pace it showed this afternoon as its drivers finished up in eleventh and fifteenth, with Romain Grosjean in front of Kevin Magnussen. The American team will be hoping to up its pace for Saturday and replicate its pace from Melbourne two weeks ago.
Force India improved on its pace from the opening practice session, with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez setting themselves in P14 and P15 respectively.
The Williams pair of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were in P17 and P18, sandwiched between both Saubers. Sirotkin had a major moment at Turn 11 during the session, spinning his FW41 at high speed after losing control of his rear.
Charles Leclerc managed to out-pace his teammate Marcus Ericsson by half a second, while Brendon Hartley rounded out the names on the timesheets.
Bahrain International Circuit - 06 April 2018
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Seem to be a pretty clear pecking order. 2x Ferrari, 2x Mercedes, 2x Red Bull, Renault, Mclaren, Haas, Force India and then Williams. The rest is a bit murky. That Gasly though.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
This Kimi guy woke up very late in the game.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
The second class cars( sorry!) of Renault, McLaren,Haas, and Force India are so very close. I think, that is where the battle is going to be thick.