Kimi Raikkonen Leads Red Bull After Second Practice At Bahrain

Kimi Raikkonen has ended the second practice session fastest overall, ahead of the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. The Finn displayed a strong race simulation pace, which could see him master a two-stop strategy during the race on Sunday.

After a light rain shower between the two practice sessions, the second session began with overcast weather conditions over the Bahrain International Circuit. Despite the earlier rain, the heat meant the track was still bone dry as the Marussia duo of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi took to the track as the session turned green. The Briton set the initial pace for the Banbury-based outfit, with a 01:41.419. However, the times quickly began to tumble as the likes of Giedo van der Garde, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez all rose to the top.

As more drivers gradually took to the Bahrain International Circuit, several drivers including Pastor Maldonado and Lewis Hamilton made minor mistakes and ran off of the track as they pushed too hard in their respective machines. Jenson Button managed to momentarily return to the top of the timing sheets for McLaren, before the Red Bull of Mark Webber displaced the former World Champion with a 01:34.664. Sebastian Vettel struggled to match his team-mates pace early on, as the reigning World Champion ran extensively wide at Turns 14 and 15, therefore ruining his timed lap.

Fernando Alonso became one of the first drivers to opt for Pirelli’s medium tyre compound as the session progressed, which in return saw the Spaniard storm to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:34.317 for the Scuderia. Felipe Massa slotted into 3rd position behind Alonso and Webber, as Ferrari continued their strong display of pace around the circuit. Mark Webber soon joined the two-time Champion on the medium tyres, and subsequently set a 01:34.184 to leapfrog the Ferrari driver.

Many drivers soon decided that the medium tyres were the way ahead, as the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton carried out the switch. Esteban Gutierrez’s poor start to the season continued at Turn 8, when the Mexican rookie ran wide and made minor contact with the Caterham of Charles Pic who was in the process of allowing the GP2 graduate through. This caused a front-left puncture for Gutierrez, who was forced to limp back to the pits.

Kimi Raikkonen rose to the top for Lotus with a 01:34.154, as the Enstone-based outfit continued to work well with Pirelli’s unpredictable P Zero tyre compounds. All of the drivers unsurprisingly elected to run race simulations as the second practice session wore on, with Lotus and Ferrari in particular standing out as looking competitive for the race. Felipe Massa ran a touch wide on the exit of Turn 7, as the majority of the drivers still continued to push over the limit in a bid to fully prepare themselves for the weekend ahead.

As the session drew to a close, Kimi Raikkonen’s time at the top of the timing sheets remained unbeaten, as the former World Champion ended the session ahead of the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. The Finn’s race simulation throughout the session indicated that he could carry out a two-stop race strategy on Sunday, which could well enable him to secure his first ever victory around the Bahrain International Circuit. However, both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso can never be discounted, and the battle at the front will inevitably be close once proceedings continue tomorrow morning during practice three.

Pos Driver                Team                   Time      Gap       Laps
 1. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m34.154s             31
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m34.184s  + 0.030s   26
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m34.282s  + 0.128s   29
 4. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m34.310s  + 0.156s   28
 5. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m34.543s  + 0.389s   35
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m34.552s  + 0.398s   34
 7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m34.631s  + 0.477s   33
 8. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m34.666s  + 0.512s   37
 9. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m34.932s  + 0.778s   33
10. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes               1m34.976s  + 0.822s   29
11. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m35.356s  + 1.202s   32
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m35.506s  + 1.352s   36
13. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       1m35.5$9s  + 1.435s   36
14. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m35.761s  + 1.607s   33
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari         1m36.133s  + 1.979s   36
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m36.279s  + 2.125s   33
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m36.579s  + 2.425s   28
18. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         1m36.616s  + 2.462s   34
19. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault       1m37.061s  + 2.907s   32
20. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.313s  + 3.159s   33
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.363s  + 3.209s   29
22. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault       1m37.970s  + 3.816s   34

Picture Copyright © Lotus F1 Team