PlanetF1

Prac Two: Mercedes GP come to the fore

Friday 12-March-2010 12:40

New team but same old position for Nico Rosberg as the German set the fastest lap time in Friday's second practice for the Bahrain GP.

The Mercedes GP driver made a name for himself as the King of Practice last season when he dominated many of the race weekend's practice session. Unfortunately, though, he was not able to turn that pace into race wins or podiums.

But Mercedes GP will be hoping for a different outcome to the old Rosberg story after the German clocked a 1:55.409 on Friday afternoon to beat Lewis Hamilton by 0.445s.

Report: With the track temperature sitting at 48'C, the second practice session for the Bahrain GP weekend got under. Jaime Alguesuari set the first time of the day, a 2:02.757. However, he was quickly overhauled by both Ferrari drivers, Tonio Liuzzi and Jenson Button, who went quickest with a 1:56.944.

Button's reign was short-lived as Nico Hulkenberg went quickest only to lose out to Lewis Hamilton moments later. The Brit clocked a 1:56.051, the quickest time seen at Bahrain on Friday, while Rubens Barrichell took fourth place with the two Force inida's behind him.

Problems for Jarno Trulli, who lost a piece of bodywork from his Lotus T127 which Pedro de la Rosa had to take avoiding action to miss. But he wasn't the only one having problems as Hamilton pitted after just four laps, complaining that his harder option Bridgestones were already destroyed.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher put in a flier as the Mercedes GP driver took second place only to be dropped as his team-mate Nico Rosberg went quickest with a 1:55.555, almost half a second up on Hamilton's best.

Sebastian Vettel, tipped to become the 2010 World Champ by Bernie Ecclestone, improved to sixth place, slotting in between the two Williams drivers while Vitaly Petrov put his Renault up into P10.

The Bahrain circuit has been changed ahead of this year's race, one of the changes being to Turn Six which is causing a few problems for the drivers as if they enter at the wrong angle their cars bottom out. This will become an even bigger problem when the drivers have full race fuel onboard.

Bruno Senna ventured out in his HRT, however, the Brazilian was slowest of all, a full 14 seconds off the pace. His team-mate Karun Chandhok has yet to set a time today due to a reported hydraulic problem. Sebastien Buemi and Timo Glock also failed to set times by the halfway mark.

Petrov climbed to fifth place in an impressive showing from the Renault rookie while Felipe Massa head back into the pits having completed a long-distance run.

Jaime Alguersuari, the only driver to spin in the morning session, had another after touching the white line, putting him into a spin. Luckily for the Spaniard he managed to avoid the barriers - but only just.

Vettel joined the list of those playing in the desert sand as he ran wide, a problem many have encourtered today as they wait for the track to rubber up and the grip levels to improve. Meanwhile, Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber was stuck in the pits with a drive-shaft problem.

With 25 minutes remaining, Glock finally set his first timed lap moving up to 18th place ahead of his team-mate Lucas di Grassi. The only drivers slower than Virgin's duo were the two Lotus drivers and Senna.

Pedro de la Rosa, who like Schumacher is returning to F1 racing after a few years on the sidelines, moved up to eighth place on the softer option tyres.

Alonso moved up to 11th place while both Lotus drivers jumped ahead of their Virgin rivals. Massa improved to seventh place upon his return to the track for the final five minutes.

Beuno Senna ended his practice with bits of bodywork flying from his car, an off-track excursion and the first and only yellow flag of the day.

Senna's yellow meant Rosberg finished the session at the top of the timesheets, ahead of Hamilton and Schumacher.

Times
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.409 23 laps
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.854 + 0.445 22 laps
3. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.903 + 0.494 23 laps
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.076 + 0.667 28 laps
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:56.459 + 1.050 18 laps
6. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.501 + 1.092 26 laps
7. Massa Ferrari 1:56.555 + 1.146 30 laps
8. Petrov Renault 1:56.750 + 1.341 26 laps
9. Alonso Ferrari 1:57.140 + 1.731 25 laps
10. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.255 + 1.846 24 laps
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.352 + 1.943 27 laps
12. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:57.361 + 1.952 29 laps
13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:57.452 + 2.043 21 laps
14. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.833 + 2.424 29 laps
15. Kubica Renault 1:58.155 + 2.746 29 laps
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:59.799 + 4.390 31 laps
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault 2:00.444 + 5.035 12 laps
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.873 + 5.464 23 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.990 + 5.581 14 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.037 + 6.628 3 laps
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.188 + 6.779 21 laps
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:06.968 + 11.559 17 laps
23. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 laps
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth