Nico Rosberg led the final practice session in Bahrain ahead of the Red Bull pair.
Track conditions had deteriorated since yesterday, with noticeably more dust on the circuit.
That didn’t stop Force India making an early start to proceedings, having missed yesterday’s second practice session.
The Lotus pair were next onto the track, with first Kimi Raikkonen, then Romain Grosjean leading the times.
The fastest driver on the medium tyres was Sebastian Vettel, who set a 1’34.225 before drivers started using the softs.
Daniel Ricciardo was the first driver to demote him using the soft tyres, but the Mercedes drivers showed even better pace.
Michael Schumacher set a 1’33.796, then reported his rear tyres had started to go off soon afterwards.
But as in China team mate Nico Rosberg found over a half a second more time. A 1’33.254 put him comfortably fastest.
Lewis Hamilton was next up to try to beat the mark but could only better Schumacher’s mark by a hundredth of a second. Jenson Button took to the track a few minutes later and a lap of 1’33.899 put him fourth.
But the McLarens and Schumacher were relegated by a late effort from the Red Bulls. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber claimed second and third, the world champion lapping within 0.147s of Rosberg.
Raikkonen took seventh ahead of Ricciardo and Grosjean. Fernando Alonso scraped into the top ten, just two-hundredths of a second faster than Pastor Maldonado.
In the hot, dusty conditions, Rosberg’s quickest lap was 0.438s slower than yesterday’s best time.
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’34.249 | 1’32.816 | 1’33.254 | +0.438 | 72 |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’34.552 | 1’33.262 | 1’33.663 | +0.401 | 64 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’33.877 | 1’33.525 | 1’33.401 | -0.124 | 63 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’33.572 | 1’33.747 | 1’33.782 | +0.21 | 53 |
5 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’34.483 | 1’33.862 | 1’33.796 | -0.066 | 65 |
6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’34.277 | 1’34.246 | 1’33.899 | -0.347 | 56 |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’34.609 | 1’35.183 | 1’33.976 | -0.633 | 65 |
8 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’34.150 | 1’35.336 | +1.186 | 48 | |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’36.591 | 1’34.895 | 1’34.197 | -0.698 | 63 |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’34.344 | 1’35.773 | +1.429 | 47 | |
11 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’34.847 | 1’34.615 | 1’34.401 | -0.214 | 68 |
12 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’35.929 | 1’34.411 | 1’35.128 | +0.717 | 72 |
13 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’35.436 | 1’34.449 | 1’34.895 | +0.446 | 63 |
14 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’35.024 | 1’34.893 | 1’36.067 | +1.174 | 73 |
15 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’35.268 | 1’35.459 | 1’34.918 | -0.35 | 75 |
16 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’35.719 | 1’34.941 | 1’35.536 | +0.595 | 64 |
17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’36.195 | 1’35.229 | 1’34.977 | -0.252 | 58 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’35.497 | 24 | |||
19 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1’36.169 | 1’35.623 | -0.546 | 46 | |
20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1’36.330 | 1’35.968 | 1’35.694 | -0.274 | 65 |
21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1’36.484 | 1’35.913 | 1’36.532 | +0.619 | 68 |
22 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’38.006 | 1’36.587 | 1’37.654 | +1.067 | 69 |
23 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’37.467 | 1’37.803 | 1’37.267 | -0.2 | 69 |
24 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1’38.877 | 1’37.812 | 1’38.973 | +1.161 | 58 |
25 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’39.996 | 1’39.649 | 1’39.221 | -0.428 | 59 |
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
Browse all 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix articles
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
21st April 2012, 10:15
The place looked like a ghost town, I think there was spectators at testing this yr.
infy (@infy)
21st April 2012, 13:27
Apparently there’s 1 dead person so far. According to reports there’s no reason to think it was done by the authorities.
Ben
21st April 2012, 13:41
Apart from the obvious humanitarian reasons why this GP should be withdrawn, there is nobody there watching (no real surprise given the circumstances). So its just TV money. I’m no Bernie basher, but come on. Sport doesn’t survive without the fans – and even the worldwide tv audience is now held hostage. Watch it or not.
Surely there must be many countries that have fans that would flock to a GP. Or even countries that deserve 2 (I know some already do). Can we have a poll Keith?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
21st April 2012, 10:23
Rosberg’s FP3 time alone is faster than any McLaren effort. Maybe you can put that down to what Hamilton was saying about unpredictable wind direction, or maybe Mercedes will stick it out front again? They certainly look strong, especially given past tyre trouble. Still, the race is a different story.
In conclusion, I don’t have a clue :D
Enigma (@enigma)
21st April 2012, 10:26
And that’s what’s so great about 2012 :)
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
21st April 2012, 10:33
Maybe the McLaren is very sensitive to crosswinds.
guido (@guidof1)
21st April 2012, 10:39
i am not quite sure about merc having got on top of their tyre issues. it remains to be seen wether they can be kind to them in traffic for a whole race distance. It certainly is looking good for the Red Bulls, not for pole though, but if they can get rid of Rosberg in the opening laps I cant see anybody challenging them for victory.
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st April 2012, 10:28
Like to see the speed trap figures to see if Merc have dialled up the downforce, Q is going to be interesting with the track as slippery as it is, overdriving is going to have serious consequences.
Enigma (@enigma)
21st April 2012, 11:35
@hohum In the speed trap in FP3 Raikkonen was the fastest (318kph), from his team-mate, Force Indias and Saubers.
Based on sector speeds on the live timing, I’d guess Mercedes’ gear ratios are more on acceleration than top speed.
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st April 2012, 13:49
@enigma, thanks, I’m guessing it’s more (wing) downforce that’s taken away their speed advantage.
himmatsj (@himmatsj)
21st April 2012, 10:30
Its crazy that Hamilton’s fastest time this weekend has been in FP1. I think with regards to wind directions, track temperature etc, we could be in for a lottery qualifying session. But I still see Niko nicking it!
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
21st April 2012, 10:37
Red Bull look very strong this weekend. Maybe they finally put everything into together and from now will fight for victories?
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st April 2012, 10:42
Hoping ( but not holding my breath ) to hear Advance Australia Fair soon.
Ben
21st April 2012, 12:12
Just watching the qualifying. Where are all the spectators?