Raikkonen on top for Lotus in second practice

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix second practice

Posted on

| Written by

Kimi Raikkonen was quickest for Lotus in second practice and looked capable of going quicker.

The Ferrari drivers picked up where they left off at the end of the first session, leading the times after the first runs.

Half an hour into the session the Red Bull drivers switched to the medium compound tyres and Mark Webber took over the fastest time. Sebastian Vettel, who’d made a mistake at the final corner earlier in the session, crossed the line a tenth of a second slower than his team mate.

Fernando Alonso looked on course to beat the benchmark time but he caught Romain Grosjean’s Lotus in the middle of the lap, losing a few tenths of a second. His team mate was two tenths of a second slower and Paul di Resta inserted his Force India into the gap between the two.

That remained the order until halfway through the session when Raikkonen did his first run on mediums. He was substantially quicker through the first two sectors and despite understeering in the final two corners he took the quickest time, albeit by just three hundredths of a second.

Esteban Gutierrez, who already has a five-place penalty for this weekend after his crash in China, had another run-in with a rival during the session. Charles Pic moved wide to let him past at turn eight but the Sauber ran wide into the Caterham and Gutierrez hobbled back to the pits with a punctured front-left tyre.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
17Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’34.15431
22Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’34.1840.03026
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’34.2820.12829
43Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’34.3100.15629
514Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’34.5430.38935
64Felipe MassaFerrari1’34.5520.39834
78Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’34.6310.47733
89Nico RosbergMercedes1’34.6660.51237
915Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’34.9320.77833
1010Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’34.9760.82229
115Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’35.3561.20232
1218Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’35.5061.35236
136Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes1’35.5891.43537
1419Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’35.7611.60733
1511Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’36.1331.97936
1616Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’36.2792.12533
1717Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’36.5792.42528
1812Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’36.6162.46234
1920Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’37.0612.90733
2023Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’37.3133.15933
2122Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’37.3633.20929
2221Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’37.9703.81613

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix articles

Image © Lotus/LAT

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

24 comments on “Raikkonen on top for Lotus in second practice”

  1. Esteban Gutierrez, who already has a five-place penalty for this weekend after his crash in China, had another run-in with a rival during the session. Charles Pic moved wide to let him past at turn eight but the Sauber ran wide into the Caterham and Gutierrez hobbled back to the pits with a punctured front-left tyre.

    From this day forward, Esteban Gutierrez shall be known as “Goo” – because he always makes a mess of things.

    1. I’ve been calling him Gucci-erez on other forums, due to him being a pretty negative example of a paydriver so far..

      1. @npf1 – I disagree on that. He might have money, and he might be struggling, but he doesn’t fit the definition of a pay driver. He is, after all, a GP3 Series champion, and a GP2 Series race winner, so he has a pedigree that suggests he deserves to be in Formula 1 on merit. His problems are no doubt exacerbated by the C32’s lacklustre performances, but I think he’s more of a talented driver who isn’t quite ready for Formula 1, rather than a pay driver who has no business being there.

        1. I don’t really consider him to be a pay driver as I would consider Taki Inoue or Narnain Karthikeyan, but Telmex did play a big part in him getting the Sauber seat. I don’t necessarily think pay drivers are a bad thing, either, but his last season in GP2 didn’t really warrant a seat in F1, in my opinion.

          I’m not sure where my other post in this comment section has gone, but there I did mention I thought he is most likely right in his pre-season assumption that he might not be ready for F1. While the C32 will impact his times, his clashes with Sutil and Pic, as well as some other sketchy moments, I don’t think he’s doing himself any pleasures, nor the idea of hiring a driver as a midfield team because of sponsor preferences.

          I also think his problems are perhaps more psychological, the pressure being too high or he himself being insecure, than it being a lack of experience. As you said, he did win races and championships before.

  2. Too early to predict but still for me: 1. Red Bull; 2. Ferrari; 3. Lotus; 4. Mercedes; 5. Force India; 6. McLaren.
    Only thing to do now is to wait for qualifying session!

    1. Too early predict, but a prediction is made anyway ;-).

      I think you’re right to be honest. Perhaps maybe Lotus in 2nd, as Fernando’s car is definitely not the quickest (so he says!).

    2. 1. Red Bull – Ferrari
      3. Lotus
      4. Mercedes
      5. McLaren
      6. Force India

      In my opinion :)

      1. McLaren seems to be struggling. Let’s see how it pans out tomorrow.

        1. @akshay depends what is listed … Force India has a quicker car than McLaren at the moment but I don’t feel their drivers make the most of it while Button quite manage his car (compared to Perez).
          On car alone, I would rank Force India ahead of McLaren, but drivers taken into acount, I think Jenson could be ahead of both Force India by the end of the race …

          1. With the pace of McLaren, I don’t see Button holding his position from the FI drivers. They are well off the pace in FP3!

      2. 1. Red Bull – Ferrari

        All you guys please excuse me, but I couldn’t resist anymore but say this: A new Red Bull powered by Ferrari engine ;)

        Will we ever see one such car?

        1. that means he predicts they are on the same level… DUH

          1. I understood what he meant. Was wondering how a Ferrari powered Red Bull may be like ;)

  3. Force india looks quicker here in baharain,,,

  4. Tight on top and tight at the bottom !

    1. Nice outfit :)

  5. I expect a solid run from the Force Indias this weekend. I’d really be knackered if they have another retirement. They have a better car than McLaren and they need to capitalize now.

  6. If Ferrari can get within third or forth on the grid they could be again for another win, considering their race pace.
    Any opinion on their long runs in FP2? I have no chance to look the practices.

  7. This looks like another close one at the top. I’m expecting Red Bull to be fastest in qualifying, followed closely by Lotus and Ferrari. In the race, Lotus will have the best race pace and tyre strategy, followed closely by Red Bulls and Ferrari.

    I think a Kimi, Vettel and Alonso podium is possible.. although its hard to say in which order they will finish.

  8. Raikonnen will be up ther among the frontrunnes this weekend. My money’s on him winning on Sunday

  9. I have a feeling that four of the top five drivers (If not all five) will be in the top 5 come the end of the race. All of them have looked good this year, and with McLaren seemingly out of it currently, Grosjean and Massa not comparing well to their team mates and Mercedes not finding the time they had in the past couple of races, it’s hard to see anyone else in the mix.

  10. Ferrari’s high fuel pace on both the prime and option looked better than any other car…even Lotus. If they have a strong qual (and with Webber having a grid penalty their odds are even better to do so) they are my favs for the win on Sunday with the same temps as today.

Comments are closed.