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Formula 1 Bahrain GP

Bahrain GP Friday practice

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Summary

  • Ferrari remains on top as Vettel tops FP2
  • FP1 pacesetter Leclerc second, ahead of Hamilton and Bottas
  • Alfa Romeo misses the majority of the session
  • Promoted: Play along with Pitstop Betting. Download the app today. T&Cs apply.

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That’s all from us today, but catch all the reaction to Friday practice from Bahrain on Autosport and Motorsport.com throughout the afternoon.

We’ve got one final treat for you before we go - to mark the 10th anniversary of Brawn GP’s Australian Grand Prix victory, take a look back at that famous result and the team’s march to the 2009 title with the help of team owner Ross Brawn.
10 years on - How Ross Brawn rescued his F1 team - F1 - Autosport Plus
That's your lot for Friday - the chequered flag is out.
Leclerc uses DRS to draft past Albon at the end of the second straight on the approach to Turn 4.
Hamilton has headed back to the pits after seven laps on that medium-compound run. That will probably be his lot for the day.
Grosjean has gone off-trend and swapped soft tyres for the hard in the final minutes of this session.
Giovinazzi improves to a 1m31.144s on his first timed lap on the softs, but stays 18th.
Giovinazzi has also headed back out in his Alfa after missing the majority of the session. He's on the soft compound.
The majority of the field has now switched over to the medium tyre with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Hamilton's latest lap on the mediums isn't a 1m34.968s. That looks pretty rapid, and is seven tenths faster than what Hulkenberg is doing on the same tyre.
Vettel is immediately down into the impressively low-1m35s now when his Ferrari is pointing in the right direction through every corner.
Vettel is the latest driver to come a cropper exiting Turn 2. He gets a twitch on through the corner, then loses the car on the exit kerb.
Just as we say that, Hamilton switches onto the yellow-sidewalled medium compound.
Both Ferraris are out now for their race runs. Vettel and Leclerc on the soft tyre, as is everyone else out on track.
Replays show Hamilton having a close run-in with one of the Toro Rossos down at Turn 1. No harm done, though.
No times from the Ferraris to look at, but Bottas, Hulkenberg and Verstappen are all in the 1m35s in the early stages of their race runs.
Every other team apart from Ferrari (and garage-bound Alfa) appears to have skipped a second qualifying sim and headed straight onto race preparation.
Stroll is only 17th on his first qualifying sim after running wide at the final corner.
While Stroll has made it back out on track, both Alfa Romeos remain in the pits, and look like they're going nowhere fast. Raikkonen did six laps earlier in the session, while Giovinazzi managed four.
Vettel went VERY wide out of the final corner - so it's likely he has a fair bit more pace in the bag than that new benchmark time suggests.
The Ferraris are back out there and have gone quicker again. Vettel remains quickest, now on a 1m28.846s, while Leclerc is now just 0.035s shy of his team-mate in second.
Magnussen managed to improve in the opening sector on his second run, but the lap fell away from there. Gasly did improve on his second hot lap, but only from 13th to 12th.
And the rest: 11 Sainz; 12 Gasly; 13 Albon; 14 Perez; 15 Ricciardo; 16 Raikkonen; 17 Giovinazzi; 18 Russell; 19 Stroll; 20 Kubica.
Given everyone but the Alfas and the Racing Point of Stroll - which is up on its stands as the team fixes some damage to the floor - has attempted a qualifying lap, here's a look at the top 10:

1 Vettel; 2 Leclerc; 3 Hamilton; 4 Bottas; 5 Hulkenberg; 6 Verstappen; 7 Magnussen; 8 Norris; 9 Grosjean; 10 Kvyat.
Magnussen goes up to seventh ahead of team-mate Grosjean with his soft-tyre run.
Verstappen is only sixth on his first soft-shod qualifying simulation run, having failed to set a personal best in the first sector.
Hulkenberg and Kvyat temporarily split the Mercedes by improving to fourth and fifth, until Bottas pops back up into fourth on a 1m29.557s.
Hamilton improves to third on a 1m29.449s, which puts him half a second down on Vettel.
Hamilton is also out on the softs and pumps in a personal best in the first and second sectors.
Bottas has two Ferraris in the corner of his eye on the run to Turn 1, then gets a bit out of shape through Turn 2 and back out of a fast lap.

By: Geoff Creighton

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