Ferrari filled the top two positions again in the second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix but this time it was Sebastian Vettel on top.
There was little to choose between the two SF90s, however. Vettel edged team mate Charles Leclerc by just three-hundredths of a second, though he seemed to have the potential to improve his time on his final run.Vettel also tripped up during his long run in the second half of the session. He lost his car on the exit kerb at turn two and spun off, but was able to continue.
Mercedes were closer to the red cars than they had been in first practice, but Lewis Hamilton was still over six-tenths of a second behind in third place. Valtteri Bottas was another tenth of a second behind.
Renault surprised by being the third-quickest team courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg, whose best lap left him just a tenth shy of the second Mercedes. He was just five-hundredths of a second quicker than Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver’s modest improved when he switched from medium to soft tyres indicated he also had more lap time up his sleeve.
Pierre Gasly ended the session well down on his team mate. The pair were separated by seven tenths of a second and six places.
The gap was filled by the Haas pair, who looked much stronger in the second session, and both McLaren drivers. Lando Norris was less than two-hundredths of a second slower than Haas pace-setter Kevin Magnussen.
Gasly only narrowed avoided being out-paced by both Toro Rossos. He was three-tenths off Daniil Kvyat and only fractionally ahead of Alexander Albon.
Daniel Ricciardo was another driver who ended the session well behind his team mate. The two Renault drivers were separated by over a second. Meanwhile the Alfa Romeo pair were delayed by water leaks which confined each to no more than 10 laps.
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Second practice visual gaps
Sebastian Vettel – 1’28.846
+0.035 Charles Leclerc – 1’28.881
+0.603 Lewis Hamilton – 1’29.449
+0.711 Valtteri Bottas – 1’29.557
+0.823 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’29.669
+0.879 Max Verstappen – 1’29.725
+1.154 Kevin Magnussen – 1’30.000
+1.171 Lando Norris – 1’30.017
+1.222 Romain Grosjean – 1’30.068
+1.247 Daniil Kvyat – 1’30.093
+1.346 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’30.192
+1.583 Pierre Gasly – 1’30.429
+1.612 Alexander Albon – 1’30.458
+1.870 Sergio Perez – 1’30.716
+2.002 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’30.848
+2.242 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’31.088
+2.283 Lance Stroll – 1’31.129
+2.298 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’31.144
+3.058 George Russell – 1’31.904
+4.086 Robert Kubica – 1’32.932
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Red Bull discover set-up error compromised cars in Bahrain
- ‘I didn’t see myself staying behind’: Leclerc explains decision to pass Vettel
- Vettel “not surprised” Leclerc passed him despite team order
- Mercedes drivers say Bahrain one-two wasn’t just down to “luck”
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
svianna (@svianna)
29th March 2019, 16:52
Is Kubica’s “come back” a feel good story now? How cruel can destiny be.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
29th March 2019, 17:17
I never thought it would be a successful comeback. Let’s be honest, few chances to be a successful comeback: 8 years on the side, his age, his arm, different cars, lots of new young shots – some of them very fast, Williams as the team of choice etc. Plus, it’s statistics too, most comebacks are not successful.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
29th March 2019, 17:52
Only Lauda, Prost and Kimi have made successful comebacks.
Chaitanya
30th March 2019, 6:47
Lauda and Prost both won titles on comebacks. while Kimi didnt win title on comeback but his earlier-Lotus days were spectacular to say the least.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
29th March 2019, 17:19
I wish it was a successful comeback, but it doesn’t look like that.
edvaldo
29th March 2019, 17:28
Formula One changed a lot since 2010.
pirelli’s tyres are very different from the bridgestones he used to drive on and even if it weren’t that different, 2010 is ages ago in sports time.
Vettel and Hamilton were still fresh new guys then, now they are the stars on the final leg of their careers.
To me it was always a matter of Robert coming back and proving that he could still do it. And he still can, just not as well anymore. If his arm was not an issue, i doubt Renault would’ve dropped him. They wanted to have him there, but gave up on him cuz he wasn’t up to it on their standards. Williams only gave him a seat cuz they didnt got anyone else with the right amount of money to get it.
I hope he scores a point until the end of the season, even if it is a dead last 10th place. It doesn’t matter.
Alain
29th March 2019, 18:06
There’s no way Williams would have given him a drive just for the money.
They know hes fully capable from testing and multiple sim runs and his technical knowledge is right up there with the best.
The cars not in any state to make a judgement about his own speed yet.
edvaldo
29th March 2019, 20:13
well, they gave for Stroll, didn’t they?
i hope i’m wrong and his arm is not an issue, but i wouldn’t bet on that.
Rick D. (@partsguy20)
29th March 2019, 18:12
I’ll wait to reserve judgement until he’s given an undamaged car. His car still has damaged pieces from FP1 in Australia… Given that he’s still driving a Williams, I don’t expect him to suddenly fight for podiums once the damaged pieces are finally replaced, but I think his pace will definitely improve to where he’s as good or slightly better than Russell.
I feel bad for him though… for all that he’s been through to finally be given the opportunity to come back to F1, to land with a team that’s so out of sorts has to be very frustrating. Williams can’t seem to find their rump with two hands and a map.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
29th March 2019, 17:51
I have a question on Mr Dieter Rencken regarding the standardised parts from the 2021 season. I’ve read an article where they mentioned a standardised “DRS mechanism.” I thought we were going to get rid of this system. Could you probably tell us something more about this?
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
30th March 2019, 5:12
@dieterrencken
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
29th March 2019, 19:56
For what it’s worth last year pole time by Vettel was 1’27.958 so there is still some margin. 2018 fp2
Interestingly though last year’s FP2 best time was 1 second slower than today with 1’29.817. 2018 qualifications
Is there anything to read in there? Is it about faster cars, better weather or tyres? Or maybe teams being more pushy.