28/02/2014
NEWS STORY
For the second successive day Sergio Perez heads the timesheets in Bahrain, as Force India continues to show strong pace and enviable reliability.
The morning witnessed two red flags, the first when Lewis Hamilton spun off at T3, around an hour into the action, and the second when Jenson Button stopped on track around ninety minutes later.
Following yesterday's exhaust problems, which saw his team revert to the old system, Maldonado was amongst the last out this morning and, along with Daniel Ricciardo, the last driver to post a time. For both men this is a vital day as it is the last time they will drive their cars before FP1 in Melbourne. Again, the problem with the RB10 appears to be overheating, Ricciardo unable to put more than a handful of laps together at any one time.
Following his earlier mistake, Hamilton soon got down to business and has thus far completed more laps than anyone else, the Mercedes driver putting one run of 22 laps together.
A surprise near the top of the timesheets is Jules Bianchi in the Marussia, the Frenchman keen to get some laps under his belt following the problems of last week's test.
Second quickest is Fernando Alonso as Ferrari ups the ante, while Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne is the highest placed Renault driver. Alonso had looked set to improve his time earlier but his lap was ruined when the red flags were brought out following Button's stoppage.
The pace is sure to 'hot up' this afternoon, but it is clear that Red Bull and Lotus are still in great difficulty… and the clock is ticking.
Midday Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Perez | Force India | 33 | 1:35.570 | 126.678 mph |
| Alonso | Ferrari | 45 | 1:35.634 | 0.064 |
| Button | McLaren | 22 | 1:36.901 | 1.331 |
| Bianchi | Marussia | 33 | 1:38.198 | 2.628 |
| Hamilton | Mercedes | 62 | 1:39.041 | 3.471 |
| Massa | Williams | 41 | 1:39.323 | 3.753 |
| Vergne | Toro Rosso | 27 | 1:39.756 | 4.186 |
| Gutierrez | Sauber | 34 | 1:40.428 | 4.858 |
| Ricciardo | Red Bull | 14 | 1:40.867 | 5.297 |
| Maldonado | Lotus | 17 | 1:41.762 | 6.192 |
| Ericsson | Caterham | 22 | 1:42.516 | 6.946 |
Check out our Friday gallery, here.
Chris Balfe