Ferrari, Lotus and Red Bull are the three teams at the sharp end of the field in Bahrain – but in which order?
The fastest combined sector times from the session indicate Fernando Alonso had the quickest car under him.
But Kimi Raikkonen, who headed the second session, admitted “there’s still more time to be found” after a poor final sector on his best lap. The table below shows he was only 13th-fastest through that part of the track.
As ever Lotus’s real strength is their race stint pace and that was much in evidence at the end of the second practice session. Their longer stints were more competitive than those of Ferrari and Red Bull.
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Already some drivers are completing more than 15 laps on the hard tyre, so we are certainly on track to see a three-stop strategy for the race, although it’s possible that some teams will attempt a two-stopper.” There’s a good chance Lotus will be among them.
McLaren were the only team to use a two-stop strategy instead of three in China. But Jenson Button admitted to being unsure how best to proceed with the unco-operative MP4-28.
“It’s very difficult to know exactly what to do with set-up,” he said. “This is a big traction circuit, with lots of low-speed exits and a few high-speed corners too, and that puts a lot of load into the rear tyres.
“The tyres are behaving a bit strangely here – driving conservatively doesn’t seem to help their wear-life, so there’s only so much you can do without damaging your outright pace.”
With Mercedes also struggling Force India look like the most competitive Mercedes-powered team this weekend.
Here’s all the data from the first two practice sessions:
Longest stint comparison
This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | |
Sebastian Vettel | 100.111 | 100.39 | 100.427 | 114.769 | 100.172 | 100.565 | 100.952 | 114.277 | 101.574 | 102.199 | |||||||
Mark Webber | 100.676 | 101.52 | 101.117 | 101.195 | |||||||||||||
Fernando Alonso | 99.449 | 99.577 | 99.867 | 99.548 | 99.892 | 100.692 | 101.94 | 100.977 | |||||||||
Felipe Massa | 100.024 | 100.018 | 99.336 | 100.366 | 100.115 | 100.496 | 100.768 | 101.644 | 102.597 | ||||||||
Jenson Button | 101.882 | 102.39 | 100.953 | 101.072 | 101.291 | 101.082 | 101.588 | 105.728 | 101.938 | 102.278 | |||||||
Sergio Perez | 101.584 | 101.195 | 101.522 | 102.006 | 101.506 | 101.351 | 101.506 | 101.763 | 102.21 | 102.253 | 102.257 | 102.598 | 102.914 | 103.586 | |||
Kimi Raikkonen | 99.921 | 99.789 | 100.548 | 100.469 | 100.354 | 100.47 | 100.793 | 101.191 | 101.267 | 100.819 | 101.61 | 100.849 | 101.088 | 101.213 | |||
Romain Grosjean | 104.043 | 101.178 | 100.898 | 101.94 | 101.911 | 101.961 | 101.959 | 108.498 | 102.399 | 101.665 | 102.183 | 103.607 | |||||
Nico Rosberg | 100.408 | 100.795 | 102.182 | 100.971 | 102.039 | 100.839 | 101.528 | 103.249 | 102.017 | 102.376 | |||||||
Lewis Hamilton | 102.169 | 101.462 | 101.288 | 101.438 | 101.736 | 109.931 | 101.874 | 103.191 | 102.496 | 103.022 | 103.508 | ||||||
Nico Hulkenberg | 101.236 | 101.645 | 102.346 | 102.218 | 102.61 | 102.588 | 102.518 | 102.528 | 102.555 | 102.825 | 103.383 | ||||||
Esteban Gutierrez | 101.851 | 125.639 | 101.689 | 102.292 | 102.272 | 101.712 | 102.762 | 102.507 | 102.795 | 103.458 | 104.123 | 103.968 | 105.722 | 104.845 | 104.951 | 107.505 | 106.134 |
Paul di Resta | 100.245 | 100.269 | 101.377 | 99.827 | 100.091 | 101.272 | 100.046 | 100.243 | 100.304 | ||||||||
Adrian Sutil | 101.521 | 99.455 | 100.389 | 100.341 | 100.509 | 100.473 | 109.241 | 100.388 | 101.091 | ||||||||
Pastor Maldonado | 103.013 | 103.553 | 101.995 | 102.169 | 102.081 | 102.312 | 102.686 | 102.771 | 102.627 | ||||||||
Valtteri Bottas | 102.419 | 102.735 | 102.831 | 103.545 | 102.988 | 103.159 | 102.476 | 103.107 | 102.646 | 102.571 | 103.757 | 103.096 | |||||
Jean-Eric Vergne | 103.698 | 103.144 | 102.16 | 102.531 | 102.382 | 101.951 | 102.106 | 102.105 | 102.085 | 102.516 | 103.018 | ||||||
Daniel Ricciardo | 102.504 | 102.571 | 102.846 | 102.818 | 103.268 | 103.308 | 103.312 | 105.308 | 105.327 | 105.694 | |||||||
Charles Pic | 102.81 | 102.727 | 102.882 | 102.397 | 102.102 | 102.372 | 104.975 | 103.05 | 103.289 | 103.747 | 117.138 | ||||||
Giedo van der Garde | 103.819 | 104.416 | 104.108 | 104.093 | 104.321 | 104.436 | 105.704 | 107.221 | 108.645 | 109.827 | |||||||
Jules Bianchi | 102.814 | 102.895 | 103.178 | 103.076 | 103.712 | 114.334 | 103.977 | 106.501 | |||||||||
Max Chilton | 103.29 | 102.582 | 102.897 | 103.228 | 102.891 | 104.854 | 107.96 | 108.072 |
Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | S1 | S2 | S2 | Ultimate | Gap | Deficit to best |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 29.841 (2) | 40.780 (3) | 23.423 (2) | 1’34.044 | 0.266 | |
2 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 29.947 (6) | 40.760 (2) | 23.387 (1) | 1’34.094 | 0.050 | 0.090 |
3 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 29.794 (1) | 40.529 (1) | 23.831 (13) | 1’34.154 | 0.110 | 0.000 |
4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 29.883 (5) | 40.893 (6) | 23.477 (3) | 1’34.253 | 0.209 | 0.029 |
5 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 30.030 (8) | 40.883 (5) | 23.630 (7) | 1’34.543 | 0.499 | 0.000 |
6 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 29.842 (3) | 41.149 (8) | 23.557 (4) | 1’34.548 | 0.504 | 0.083 |
7 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 30.162 (10) | 40.831 (4) | 23.559 (5) | 1’34.552 | 0.508 | 0.000 |
8 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 29.969 (7) | 41.024 (7) | 23.673 (8) | 1’34.666 | 0.622 | 0.000 |
9 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 29.857 (4) | 41.176 (11) | 23.715 (9) | 1’34.748 | 0.704 | 0.228 |
10 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 30.164 (11) | 41.157 (9) | 23.611 (6) | 1’34.932 | 0.888 | 0.000 |
11 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 30.151 (9) | 41.172 (10) | 23.788 (11) | 1’35.111 | 1.067 | 0.245 |
12 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 30.320 (14) | 41.361 (12) | 23.796 (12) | 1’35.477 | 1.433 | 0.029 |
13 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 30.216 (12) | 41.451 (14) | 23.840 (14) | 1’35.507 | 1.463 | 0.082 |
14 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 30.584 (18) | 41.440 (13) | 23.737 (10) | 1’35.761 | 1.717 | 0.000 |
15 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 30.298 (13) | 41.825 (17) | 24.007 (15) | 1’36.130 | 2.086 | 0.003 |
16 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 30.535 (15) | 41.679 (15) | 24.065 (17) | 1’36.279 | 2.235 | 0.000 |
17 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 30.582 (17) | 41.806 (16) | 24.011 (16) | 1’36.399 | 2.355 | 0.180 |
18 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 30.571 (16) | 41.937 (19) | 24.108 (18) | 1’36.616 | 2.572 | 0.000 |
19 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 30.675 (19) | 41.902 (18) | 24.131 (19) | 1’36.708 | 2.664 | 0.353 |
20 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 30.863 (20) | 42.121 (21) | 24.290 (21) | 1’37.274 | 3.230 | 0.039 |
21 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 31.071 (22) | 42.072 (20) | 24.220 (20) | 1’37.363 | 3.319 | 0.000 |
22 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 31.012 (21) | 42.545 (22) | 24.295 (22) | 1’37.852 | 3.808 | 0.118 |
Complete practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | Total laps | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’35.345 | 1’34.154 | 48 | ||
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’35.101 | 1’34.184 | 45 | ||
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’34.790 | 1’34.282 | 49 | ||
4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’34.564 | 1’34.310 | 48 | ||
5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’34.487 | 1’34.552 | 45 | ||
6 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’34.949 | 1’34.543 | 52 | ||
7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’34.621 | 1’34.666 | 59 | ||
8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’35.611 | 1’34.631 | 47 | ||
9 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’35.119 | 1’34.932 | 52 | ||
10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’35.792 | 1’34.976 | 45 | ||
11 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’35.069 | 1’35.356 | 54 | ||
12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’36.014 | 1’35.506 | 55 | ||
13 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’35.640 | 1’35.589 | 60 | ||
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’36.485 | 1’35.761 | 53 | ||
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’35.783 | 1’36.579 | 44 | ||
16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’36.755 | 1’36.133 | 56 | ||
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’36.498 | 1’36.279 | 50 | ||
18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’37.214 | 1’36.616 | 55 | ||
19 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1’37.850 | 1’37.061 | 53 | ||
20 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’39.445 | 1’37.313 | 45 | ||
21 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’37.363 | 29 | |||
22 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’37.970 | 13 | |||
23 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1’38.401 | 20 | |||
24 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’40.215 | 7 |
Speed trap – second practice
# | Driver | Car | Engine | Max speed (kph) | Gap | |
1 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | Renault | 315.8 | |
2 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | Renault | 315.6 | 0.2 |
3 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 314 | 1.8 |
4 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India | Mercedes | 313.7 | 2.1 |
5 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | Mercedes | 313.5 | 2.3 |
6 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 312.5 | 3.3 |
7 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Ferrari | 311.7 | 4.1 |
8 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | Ferrari | 311.6 | 4.2 |
9 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | Ferrari | 311.5 | 4.3 |
10 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | Ferrari | 311 | 4.8 |
11 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Mercedes | 310.3 | 5.5 |
12 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | Renault | 310 | 5.8 |
13 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | Mercedes | 309.4 | 6.4 |
14 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia | Cosworth | 309.3 | 6.5 |
15 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | Renault | 309.2 | 6.6 |
16 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Renault | 308.8 | 7 |
17 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | Renault | 308.7 | 7.1 |
18 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 308.4 | 7.4 |
19 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham | Renault | 308.1 | 7.7 |
20 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | Renault | 307.6 | 8.2 |
21 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | Cosworth | 307.2 | 8.6 |
22 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 305.9 | 9.9 |
2013 Bahrain Grand Prix
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- Karthikeyan (no, not that one) takes Predictions win
- Top ten pictures from the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix
Image © Renault/DPPI
Candice
19th April 2013, 17:17
Alonso was doing low 1.40 for many laps….
Ferrari impressed me more in term of deg and race pace.
Sounak Chakrabarty (@sonkky)
19th April 2013, 17:36
Alonso ran the Hard tyres(The Longer Stint) first followed by Mediums (The faster stint) while Kimi ran the Softs first and then ran the Hards for about 3-4 Laps..
The lap Times are skewed a bit thus
Sounak Chakrabarty (@sonkky)
19th April 2013, 17:37
*ran the Mediums first
Gilbert
19th April 2013, 17:30
How can you compare drivers doing long runs with medium and hard ??
Theodosios (@theovog)
19th April 2013, 17:42
Ferrari looks strong in both tyres, both on qual and race pace. Kimi seems also good but maybe there were some issues with the hard compound. I am not 100% sure on that. So, it looks to be a battle between Alonso and Kimi for the win with Vettel a little bit behind the two of them. Now, between Webber, Massa and Grosjean, Massa has the most chances to snatch a podium from one of the top 3 I mentioned.
maybet
19th April 2013, 18:02
Lotus always has issues with harder compound.
They need more time to heat it up for get go.
Randy (@randy)
19th April 2013, 17:44
So it seems 2013 will really be a mano-a-mano-a-mano between 3 drivers in 3 different cars. Oh joy.
If Ferrari really is faster in the first part of the stint, then it’s crucial for Lotus to qualify ahead of them.
Kimi, show us the meaning of haste!
Kingshark (@kingshark)
19th April 2013, 19:06
@randy
Ironically we had an identical season to that 10 years ago.
Dants
20th April 2013, 1:36
And yet 10 years ago the season ended with a german dominating it…
Fingers crossed so that ir doesn’t happen again!
Nothing wrong with germans winning, though :P
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
20th April 2013, 4:44
I’m believe that the fight will be between Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel (since Web,there’s always something), I can’t see Romain fighting for the lead neither Massa that keeps struggling with the Medium tyre and with tyre preservation.
EstF1 (@estf1)
19th April 2013, 17:45
Good to see Lotus on top of the top speed charts. Overtaking won’t bee too hard for them in the race i think.
Eggry (@eggry)
19th April 2013, 17:46
Grosjean is still quite slower than Kimi. even with new chassis, he’s still struggling.
maybet
19th April 2013, 18:00
and romain got new front wings and other bits in Shanghai last week……..kimi only got it today.
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
19th April 2013, 21:11
I think you got that wrong Kimi got parts in Malaysia that Romain only got lost week in China, normally they should be on equal foot this weekend or Kimi has new parts that Romain doesn’t have. I haven’t hear or read anything about the lotus technically this weekend so I’m don’t know. Still it is a large gap he is leaving between himself and Kimi so something is not going well in the Lotus number 8.
maybet
20th April 2013, 0:39
read the team report. James Allison said that Kimi will have new bits that romain had in chinese gp.
They distribute upgrades evenly from time to time for the sake of fairness.
Randy (@randy)
19th April 2013, 21:04
Lotus reps did say that the 2013 car is tailored specifically to suit Raikonnen’s style. I wonder how this is affecting Grosjean.
maybet
20th April 2013, 0:40
nope, they didn’t say that. They only say that the FRIC system has narrow window to get it right. And Romain suffer more due to his driving style. Also Romain has issues with the new tyres as well.
Olav (@okersen)
20th April 2013, 10:25
Räikkönen’s style is a bit shorter (1,75m) than Grosjean’s (1,8m). So I’d guess this year’s car is a tight fit for Grosjean. LOL
@HoHum (@hohum)
19th April 2013, 17:51
So, 15 laps on the HARD tyre is supposed to be good ?
BasCB (@bascb)
19th April 2013, 18:15
I guess we should read that as 15 laps on the hard when the track is not rubbered in (meaning that come the race they should be doing about 20-25 laps?)
Sure enough thats a very far cry from seeing Vettel race all but the last lap on his softs a couple of years back.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
19th April 2013, 18:28
@hohum On a desert, sandy track with one of the biggest improvements over a weekend out of all the tracks on the calendar, 15 laps or more on friday is good,yes
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
19th April 2013, 18:06
As a Hamilton fan, I found this session a bit depressing. To see worse tyre degradation is one thing, but they were nowhere on one-lap pace either. Lotus, Ferrari, Red Bull, and even Force India look faster over a single lap, and McLaren looks better on race pace too. If they don’t find some serious performance overnight, they will be struggling to score points on Sunday – if this session is anything to go by anyway.
It looks like a good fight between Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen though.
BasCB (@bascb)
19th April 2013, 18:12
I think its time to see Perez do a one stopper and end up on the podium. Read it first here!
vishy (@vishy)
19th April 2013, 18:36
Let’s say time to see Perez do a one stopper and beat Button. No Podium though, as Frerrari, RB and Lotus all see good.
vishy (@vishy)
19th April 2013, 18:37
all *seem good
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
19th April 2013, 18:50
Perez was flattered by a car, which was easy on its tyres, we won’t see him one stop. Two stop, maybe, but if he does, I’d expect Button to as well, and maybe Lotus.
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
19th April 2013, 21:15
@bascb Pirelli predicted 3-4 pit stops so a one stopper would end in tears or on the side of the track in lap 40 with a exploded tyre I think.
Nice thinking though :-)
BasCB (@bascb)
19th April 2013, 22:44
If you read what Pirelli says now, they expect a 3 stopper to be the norm, but a 2 stopper possible after having all the data from friday testing @force-maikel
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
20th April 2013, 11:32
@bascb Yep and I think only Ferrari and Lotus might make that happen. Red Bull? errrr, not to sure about them. They seem to like the hard tyre but the mediums were not so good, even if Vettel says otherwise. I saw their tyres after 10 laps, they were awfully damaged.
George (@george)
19th April 2013, 18:51
It’s interesting that the strengths of the teams seem to be in the same areas as last year. Lotus, Force India and Ferrari were all good in high temperatures and on race pace last year also. The only difference seems to be Lotus have caught up with Red Bull and Ferrari while McLaren has fallen down.
Dane (@n0b0dy100)
19th April 2013, 19:02
Looks like we’re in for another Alonso – Raikkonen battle. Hopefully we see some wheel to wheel action this time.
@HoHum (@hohum)
19th April 2013, 20:25
I think they both understand that wheel to wheel action will cost them an extra pit-stop and the podium, I think they will settle for a really good inlap or DRS to decide who stands tallest.
TMF (@)
19th April 2013, 19:51
what’s interesting is that Lotus used to be at the bottom of top speed lists along with RBR in 2012. In 2013 they seem to take a “low” downforce approach like Ferrari.
And my guess is that’s why they manage the tires so good – less corner speed – less temperature in tires – less thermal degradation.
Joshua Mesh (@joshua-mesh)
19th April 2013, 20:03
Lower down force generally means more reliance on mechanical (tyres) grip. Suspension setup is, IMO, the only real place to find an advantage with the tyres.
Umar Majid (@um1234)
19th April 2013, 22:09
Lotus have a real chance to get their first pole position in ages tomorrow. Raikkonen has more chance to be fair, predicted raikkonen to win with alonso and vettel. same podium in australia
IceBlue (@iceblue)
19th April 2013, 22:25
“The fastest combined sector times from the session indicate Fernando Alonso had the quickest car under him.”
If Fernando Alonso had the quickest car under him, he would’ve been first in the practice session.
Taking sector times from different laps and picking the best sector times and adding them all up to make a “quickest car” lap is nonsense.
There are numerous things that happen in each of the three sectors that occur on a single lap, and every one of those things will change all of the subsequent things depending on the circumstance.
With your logic, someone with a lap record time could be beaten by someone slower.
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
19th April 2013, 23:31
Ummmm……
No; the fact he would have been able to set the fastest overall theoretical time means that in FP2, Alonsos car was the fastest; the car which can go faster is usually the fastest. That’s how racing has always worked, and it will continue to do so.
Dants
20th April 2013, 1:44
Not that certain.
Imagine one driver does the best third sector. THen it pits, adjust his car, and proceed to make the best first and second sectors, while compromising his previous third sector time.
Driver manages 4th best time, and yet, by your logic, he has the fastest car.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
19th April 2013, 23:08
The top three teams all look fairly close on pace, so I’m looking forward to a close battle between them in both qualifying (due to the tyre allocation change) and the race!