Bahrain GP 2019
MARCH 29, 2019
Practice 2 Report - Deposed
© RV Press
By Dan Knutson in Sakhir
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the king of Free Practice 1 for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but his teammate Sebastian Vettel deposed him and ruled FP2. One thing that did not change from FP1 to FP2, however, was that the Ferrari was clearly faster than the Mercedes.
The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari – Vettel and Leclerc; Red Bull TAG Heuer –Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly; Renault – Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg; Haas Ferrari – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault – Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris; Racing Point Mercedes – Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Toro Rosso Honda – Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Robert Kubica.
Leclerc was fastest in FP1, doing a time of 1:30.354 on Pirelli's super soft compound slicks.
The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute FP2 session was 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Centigrade).
That was considerably cooler than in FP1 when the track temperature was 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Centigrade).
Ricciardo was the first out the evening session, and Raikkonen was the first to spin, getting through just one bend before he looped the Ferrari in Turn 2.
Bottas soon had his Mercedes in first with a time of 1:30.124 using the medium compound Pirellis.
Twenty minutes into the session the order was: Bottas, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel and Gasly. Then things got quiet as most of the drivers headed to the garages to have their cars adjusted for the next runs.
Vettel and Leclerc then headed out for runs on the super softs. Vettel clocked a 1:28.942 and Leclerc a 1:29.083.
Just past the 30-minute mark the Mercedes drivers did their super soft runs. Hamilton was 0.507 of a second slower than Vettel and slotted into third ahead of Bottas.
Hulkenberg grabbed a fine fifth ahead of Verstappen, Magnussen, Norris, Grosjean and Kvyat.
Halfway through the session the top ten remained the same.
Then Vettel went even faster, even though he ran wide in the final turn, as he got down to a 1:28.846. Leclerc lowered his own time to a 1:28.881, which was a mere 0.035 of a second slower than Vettel.
With half an hour to go, the top ten were: Vettel, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Magnussen, Norris, Grosjean and Kvyat.
The drivers had now switched to doing long runs. Vettel's run included a spin at Turn 3. Norris, meanwhile, had a misfire and drove slowly back to the pits.
The top ten remained the same at the end of FP2 with Vettel as the new king.