Nico Rosberg was fastest practice at the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday, as safety concerns over anti-government protests prompted Force India to skip the second session.
Rosberg, who won the Chinese Grand Prix last Sunday for his first Formula One victory, clocked 1 minute, 32.816 seconds in his Mercedes around the 5.4km Bahrain International Circuit. That was about a half-second quicker than Red Bull pair Mark Webber and two-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Rosberg wasn’t reading a lot into the outcome.
“Whilst it’s nice to be quickest today, we know that doesn’t count. The most important thing still is to improve our race pace,” Rosberg said.
“For the moment, it looks reasonable but we need to analyse where we are on high fuel levels compared to our competitors and draw our conclusions.
“The conditions are really tough out there, so the race will be quite demanding from the tyre perspective.”
Vettel, still looking for his first podium finish of the year, believes Red Bull have fixed problems that plagued the team in China. The German, who has complained about the balance and pace of his car, failed to make final qualifying in China and started 11th.
“Regarding the set-up, I think we got the answers in China that we were looking for and that’s helped us here,” Vettel said.
“We now need to see where we are against what everyone else did today. It’s very hot here, so the tyres are suffering a little as a result, but it’s the same for all teams. I think others are the favourites this weekend, but we are focusing on ourselves and pushing hard.”
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first practice but had to settle for fourth after the second session.
“Wind direction played a huge role today,” Hamilton said. “On one lap, there’d be a headwind going into turn four, the next lap, it’d be a tailwind, then a crosswind. And that makes a big difference around the circuit. In general, Mercedes looks quick. We’re there or thereabouts, but we’ll know more tomorrow (in qualifying).”
Ferrari improved on a dismal first session but Fernando Alonso still was 8th and Felipe Massa 12th. The team said both men struggled “with the medium tyres and the dust on the track.”
Most drivers adjusted to the dry and dusty circuit, which is holding an F1 race for the first time in two years. The 2011 race was cancelled due to ongoing anti-government protests that have left nearly 50 dead.
An hour before the second practice, Force India announced it would not take part as the team wanted to get back to their hotel before planned anti-government demonstrations.
Force India driver Paul Di Resta was third in the first session and teammate Nico Hulkenberg was sixth.
Sauber issued a statement confirming a dozen mechanics on a team bus witnessed trouble on Thursday as they made their way back from the circuit to their hotel.
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, on a visit to the track on Friday, said demands to call off the race amid the unrest would only “empower extremists.”
“I genuinely believe this race is a force for good and unites many people from many different religious backgrounds, sects and ethnicities under the roof of Formula One,” the crown prince said.
“I actually think having the race has prevented extremists from doing what they think they need to do to get the world’s attention.”