Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two for the third consecutive practice session in Bahrain.
But the gap between the two W05s narrowed in the final hour of running before qualifying. The pair traded fastest sectors with Hamilton emerging on top by less than a tenth of a second.
Mercedes-powered cars led the way in the final practice session with seven of them inside the top eight. Sergio Perez got closest to the works team’s pace, lapping half a second off Hamilton’s time in his Force India.
The Williams drivers again left it until late in the session to set their flying times on soft tyres. Valtteri Bottas was the quicker of the pair with Feliepe Massa joining him in the top five.
Jenson Button was sixth followed by the first car to be powered by something other than a Mercedes – Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Force India.
Daniil Kvyat and Kimi Raikkonen completed a top ten in which neither of the Red Bull cars featured.
There was 20 minutes left to run in the session when Sebastian Vettel’s running came to an early end. The world champion spun his car in the middle of turn two and skidded into a gravel trap on the outside of the next corner.
Vettel had also been one of several drivers to take to the run-off at turn 11 as they struggled to get their cars turned in to the long left-hander.
Kamui Kobayashi and Jules Bianchi ended the session ahead of both Lotus drivers. An unhappy Romain Grosjean repeatedly complained on the radio about his car’s lack of grip.
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’37.502 | 1’34.325 | 1’35.324 | +0.999 | 54 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’37.733 | 1’34.690 | 1’35.429 | +0.739 | 56 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’37.953 | 1’35.360 | 1’36.454 | +1.094 | 57 |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’40.406 | 1’35.433 | 1’37.119 | +1.686 | 58 |
5 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’39.533 | 1’35.442 | 1’36.364 | +0.922 | 32 |
6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’38.636 | 1’35.528 | 1’36.394 | +0.866 | 45 |
7 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’39.389 | 1’35.606 | 1’39.225 | +3.619 | 54 |
8 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’39.056 | 1’35.640 | 1’36.680 | +1.04 | 71 |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’38.949 | 1’35.662 | 1’36.822 | +1.16 | 45 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’39.102 | 1’35.802 | 1’35.868 | +0.066 | 71 |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’35.920 | 1’36.116 | +0.196 | 19 | |
12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’39.862 | 1’35.972 | 1’37.030 | +1.058 | 70 |
13 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’38.783 | 1’36.366 | 1’36.772 | +0.406 | 58 |
14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’38.122 | 1’36.998 | 1’36.455 | -0.543 | 39 |
15 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’40.652 | 1’36.962 | 1’38.089 | +1.127 | 57 |
16 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’36.975 | 1’37.325 | +0.35 | 53 | |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’40.793 | 1’37.259 | 1’38.880 | +1.621 | 77 |
18 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’41.036 | 1’37.599 | 1’39.208 | +1.609 | 64 |
19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’40.889 | 1’37.800 | 1’38.736 | +0.936 | 50 |
20 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’41.794 | 1’38.247 | 1’39.597 | +1.35 | 44 |
21 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’38.257 | 1’38.400 | +0.143 | 50 | |
22 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1’42.711 | 1’39.136 | 1’38.971 | -0.165 | 69 |
23 | Felipe Nasr | Williams-Mercedes | 1’40.076 | 14 | |||
24 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’40.913 | 20 | |||
25 | Robin Frijns | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’42.417 | 35 |
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
HiPn0tIc (@hipn0tic)
5th April 2014, 14:13
Top 12, 8 Mercedes.
I think that the only question is Rosberg or Hamilton on qual? I recon Ham…
The rest its just the same, nice times from Hulk and Kvyatt..
Simon (@soplaynice)
5th April 2014, 14:22
Hamilton I think, he just seems to have that little bit of extra speed all the time. I would love a surprise though and to see Mercedes then have to fight from further down the field.
Chris (@tophercheese21)
5th April 2014, 14:44
Hulk has a good chance of getting on the podium I reckon. Perhaps only the Mclaren’s and/or Ferarri’s stand in his way.
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
5th April 2014, 14:59
It makes me wonder if we are going to see all the Mercedes-powered car in Q3. I think it could happen, to be honest.
That said, the conditions are going to be very different, maybe Ferrari and Red Bull will bounce back.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
5th April 2014, 14:14
Looking forward for in-team battle!
Ean (@ean)
5th April 2014, 14:20
Kvyat real find of the season
Broc Smith (@strifeforce)
5th April 2014, 14:35
Anyone still doubting that Kvyat was the right choice for Toro Rosso? Lol
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
5th April 2014, 14:51
I suppose you can’t really answer that with any certainty, but yeah he is looking good (as I thought he would after seeing his GP3 performances) :P
Robbie (@robbie)
5th April 2014, 15:31
Not taking anything away from Kvyat, nor any new driver, but I’ll reserve my judgement for a time when we can see how he handles pressure when it is at it’s greatest.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
5th April 2014, 15:47
@vettel1 – Kvyat’s GP3 season was one of two halves, with a dominant second half following an anonymous first half. Worryingly though, Kvyat’s form climbed in tandem with his Arden teammates, suggesting that much of Kvyat’s speed was in Arden’s form in GP3, whilst Da Costa’s struggles, as well as those of teammate Pietro Fantin, suggest an Arden out of sorts in FR3.5.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
5th April 2014, 15:40
@strifeforce – Whilst Daniil is doing a decent job, the reference in question, Vergne, is pretty mediocre. Da Costa would have still been my choice.
Ciaran (@ciaran)
5th April 2014, 15:43
I’ve been seriously impressed by Kvyat so far, the fact that he’s scored points with such little fuss surely means he’s definitely going to improve as well. I feel sorry for people who wrote him off as a pay driver!
Eggry (@eggry)
5th April 2014, 14:36
the Prediction would be easy. I’m afraid whether Ferrari is weakened…
Oscar (@oscar)
5th April 2014, 14:54
Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to the 2009 Formula One Season!
Maybe in the second half anybody can catch us, but it will be tooooo late… mwahahahaaaa
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
5th April 2014, 15:21
It’s Red Bull playing catch-up to “Brawn” all over again :P
John H (@john-h)
5th April 2014, 14:54
Alonso showing Kimi who’s boss again.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
5th April 2014, 15:18
2 very different driving styles, the car can only suit one perfectly.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
5th April 2014, 17:02
@john-h In quali Kimi showing Alonso who’s boss again.
John H (@john-h)
5th April 2014, 19:15
@huhhii I knew that would happen right after I posted it! Credit to Kimi.
Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
5th April 2014, 15:24
Nice form from Checo, I hope he can keep it up through the weekend and soundly beat Hulk.
rez (@rez0)
5th April 2014, 15:32
I’m an fan of Hülkenberg, but I too hope Perez will have a good weekend. His practice times look really promising! Force India need to maximize their points considering the other, better-funded teams probably will out-develop them later in the season.