Vettel Leads FP2 in Bahrain Despite Electrical Issue

Sebastian Vettel went quickest in the second free practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, before a mid-session “complete shutdown” of his Ferrari that left him briefly stranded on the track.

The German’s P1 time came just before half an hour of the evening session, run under floodlights, had elapsed. Bolting on a set of supersofts, the Ferrari power to through a lap of 1:31.310.

Later, however, during a longer run in the final 40 minutes of the session Vettel’s car slowed dramatically before the German reported a “complete shutdown”. He managed to coast towards the pit entry and after being pushed by marshals his car was brought back to the Ferrari garage. With 15 minutes left in the session the Ferrari crew managed to get Vettel back on track for a final burst of running.

In an earlier opening session also topped by Vettel, Mercedes has a muted outing, with Lewis Hamilton 10^thand Valtteri Bottas 14^th. In the more valuable second session run at a time and in temperatures comparable to the weekend’s crucial sessions, the defending champions showed their real pace, at least with one car. Bottas finished second, just four hundredths of a second behind Vettel. Hamilton, though, was fifth after his qualifying simulation, almost three tenths adrift of the Ferrari driver.

Daniel Ricciardo, second quickest in the first session, again showed good pace in the evening, setting a best time of 1:31.376 to finish just 0.066s behind Vettel.

Fourth place went to Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, just under two tenths off his team-mate and with Hamilton next on the timesheet just 0.284s separated the top five drivers.

Sixth place was taken by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, with the German just shy of six tenths off the pace set by Vettel. Felipe Massa was seventh for Williams ahead of Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull. The Dutchman’s running was compromised however by a problem with the floor. The top ten order was completed by Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. Elsewhere, Carlos Sainz completed just five laps before pulling over with smoke pouring from his car.

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m31.310s – 29
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m31.351s 0.041s 35
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m31.376s 0.066s 28
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m31.478s 0.168s 34
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m31.594s 0.284s 35
6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m31.883s 0.573s 37
7 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m32.079s 0.769s 37
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m32.245s 0.935s 18
9 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m32.505s 1.195s 34
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m32.707s 1.397s 35
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m32.854s 1.544s 33
12 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m32.875s 1.565s 38
13 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m32.876s 1.566s 38
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m32.897s 1.587s 31
15 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m33.319s 2.009s 34
16 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m33.361s 2.051s 36
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m33.944s 2.634s 34
18 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 1m34.072s 2.762s 5
19 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m34.117s 2.807s 29
20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m34.230s 2.920s 8

FIA