Hamilton on Top
Posted by: apathe on: April 26, 2009
McLaren’s Hamilton, who was also quickest in opening practice for the previous race in China yet was off the pace on race day, set a best time of 1 minute, 33.647 seconds at the Sakhir circuit, a quarter of a second quicker than second fastest Nick Heidfeld of BMW, whose teammate Robert Kubica was third on the timesheets. Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who has impressed all season in practice sessions, was fifth, ahead of championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn. McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa completed the top eight. Temperatures were in the mid-30s (-90s F), with drivers looking forward to a dry race after the rains of Malaysia and China. The only weather risk is the possibility of a sand storm, which caused severe problems for some teams in pre-season practice at Sakhir. Friday’s session was an opportunity for teams to test what minor changes they had been able to make since last Sunday’s race in Shanghai. Force India expects to take a step forward in Bahrain, having added an interim two-tier diffuser beneath the car, trying to match the speed of Brawn, Williams and Toyota which have used the aerodynamic aid all season, plus McLaren and Renault who added them in China. Ferrari, seeking to avoid its worst season start in F1 history by going four races without a point, used the KERS power-boost device on Felipe Massa’s car, but not Kimi Raikkonen’s. Raikkonen was 10th fastest in Friday’s opening practice. Renault had not revealed its KERS strategy, but is considered likely to re-attach it in Bahrain. Torro Rosso’s Sebastian Buemi had the only significant problem of the opening practice, as his car stopped after driving roughly over a kerb.
