Both Ferrari’s show well again, another indication that The Prancing Horse’s testing performances may be a sign of good things to come.
SAKHIR, Bahrain—Defending champion Max Verstappen set the fastest time in Practice Two with a time of 1:31:936. The Dutchman finished the session ahead of both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., who, to some observers, are the cars to be reckoned with this season. The sessions were in advance of Sunday’s Gulf Air Bahrain GP.
Many had felt that Mercedes, hiding their speed, could defeat their challengers, but both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were never up with the front runners, although Russell ended up a respectable fourth. Meanwhile, Hamilton had a horrible evening, experiencing constant up and down bouncing of his car and ending up ninth.
Other drivers in the top ten included Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in fifth with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas taking sixth. Sergio Perez finished seventh in the second Red Bull. The Haas F1 Team was the biggest surprise of the evening with Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen taking eighth and tenth, respectively.
The practice sessions were conducted with few incidents. Esteban Ocon had his Alpine’s rear sidepod rip off in the opening session but returned later to take 12th overall. In that evening event, Yuki Tsunoda blocked Leclerc from taking a flying lap. Then, with only a few minutes of the second session, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll tore off his front wing.
Daniel Ricciardo, returning from a bout of COVID-19, was cleared to take part this weekend but took 18th in a short session because of a water leak in his McLaren. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel suffered COVID-19 this week and could not race. Vettel was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg, who finished in 17th.
Saturday’s Qualifying Session will be televised by ESPN News starting at 11a Eastern time.
