Why the pace of a 'different Ferrari' might be deceptive
Sebastian Vettel's practice pace in Bahrain pointed to a return to the sort of form Ferrari offered in pre-season testing. Mercedes acknowledged its main rival was much improved, but small indicators suggest Ferrari's advantage might not be all it seems
Ahead of Friday practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the key question was whether Ferrari could extract the pace from its car that its drivers said was not there in Australia and, if so, where that would put it relative to Mercedes.
A glance at the timesheets suggests something closer to what pre-season testing indicated, with Ferrari six tenths of a second clear - actually twice the kind of gap there appeared to be in testing. While the usual Friday practice caveats apply, this is encouraging for a team that was hopeful it had solved some of the problems that it believed held it back in Melbourne.
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