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Formula 1: Raikkonen quickest for Ferrari but suffers loose wheel drama

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen topped the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but he was forced to pull off the circuit late on with a loose wheel

Raikkonen was third fastest in the early running, behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas using the soft compound Pirellis.

Raikkonen was the first driver to bolt on the super-soft Pirellis to complete a qualifying simulation, setting a best lap of 1m28.817s on his initial flier.


Raikkonen went on to do long-run work, but having done a lengthy stint on the super-softs he bolted on softs and was sent back out, only to stop on his outlap with a loose front-right wheel with 14 minutes remaining.

Stewards will investigate the incident after the session, and do have the power to issue grid penalties for unsafe releases in practice sessions.

Raikkonen escapes penalty as Ferrari is fined

Raikkonen's super-soft time was never beaten, although Vettel ended up just 0.011s behind on his qualifying simulation after setting a strong pace in the second and third sectors of the Sakhir circuit.

Bottas was third, 0.552s slower than Vettel, although Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton should have been ahead of him.

On his fastest lap, Hamilton was on target to go third but was held up by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in the final right-hander.

Hamilton wound up 0.655s off the pace, but was over three-tenths off the best time set in the final sector on that lap.

Hamilton earlier had an off at the first corner after locking up on his first set of tyres, running onto the asphalt runoff before re-joining.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was fifth fastest, but complained of a lack of power and was disappointed with his qualifying simulation as he ended up 0.928s off the pace.

But that was enough to put him just ahead of team-mate and FP1 pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo, who was a further six-thousandths of a second back.

Best of the rest was Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, who was 1.403s off the pace.

A surprise challenger for that position was Toro Rosso-Honda driver Pierre Gasly, who put in a lap just 0.012s slower to beat McLaren pairing Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne to eighth place.

Romain Grosjean was 11th fastest for Haas ahead of the second Renault of Carlos Sainz Jr and the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.

Charles Leclerc was 16th, 2.555s off the pace, while Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson was 19th after surviving a spin into the gravel after losing the rear at the exit of Turn 2.

The Sauber duo was split by the two Williams drivers - Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin - with Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley last.

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m29.817s - 32
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m29.828s 0.011s 37
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m30.380s 0.563s 31
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m30.472s 0.655s 32
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m30.745s 0.928s 32
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m30.751s 0.934s 31
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m31.220s 1.403s 34
8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1m31.232s 1.415s 38
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 1m31.282s 1.465s 29
10 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 1m31.422s 1.605s 35
11 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m31.591s 1.774s 33
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1m31.601s 1.784s 34
13 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m31.809s 1.992s 31
14 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m31.868s 2.051s 34
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m31.969s 2.152s 35
16 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 1m32.372s 2.555s 37
17 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m32.382s 2.565s 30
18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 1m32.474s 2.657s 37
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m32.733s 2.916s 32
20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 1m32.908s 3.091s 38


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