18/04/2015
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's sole practice session, the air temperature is 29 degrees C, whilst the track temperature is 42 degrees. As you might expect, this being the desert, it is sunny, but it is also very windy. Very, very windy... which is sure to cause problems.
With yesterday's opening session - in which Kimi Raikkonen was quickest - pretty much meaningless, as it took place far earlier than any other session, we have to rely on FP2 for guidance.
As ever, Mercedes led the way, but this time around it was Nico Rosberg who did the business. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was right up there but it was the Ferrari trhat looked that little bit stronger, particularly on the longer runs.
Valtteri Bottas was up there - rare to see a Williams posting serious times on a Friday - whilst the Red Bulls, Saubers and Lotus look strong.
Whilst there were offs and lock-ups aplenty yesterday, it wasn't until the final moments of FP2 that we actually got an incident, Sebastian Vettel hitting the rear of Sergio Perez' Force India after Ferrari (allegedly) failed to fit his right-front wheel correctly. Shortly after, a touch of overenthusiasm in the pitlane resulted in Raikkonen receiving a reprimand but Hamilton escaping sanction for doing the same thing - overtaking Nasr.
As Eric Boullier said, it was a game of two halves for McLaren; Fernando Alonso at one stage topping the timesheets and finishing twelfth overall, whilst Jenson Button spent most of the day as a spectator.
It was a difficult day for Toro Rosso and force India also, but the Italian team should bounce back over the next 24 hours.
Tyre options this weekend are medium and soft. There are two DRS zones, the first on the back straight, between Turns 10 and 11, and the second on the pit straight.
The lights go green and the Manor of Will Stevens leads the way followed by Grosjean, Vettel and Raikkonen.
Soon after, Merhi and Maldonado head out but the bulk of the drivers appear happy to wait a bit longer.
Button is the first driver top post a time, the McLaren driver crossing the line at 1:39.127. Moments later Nasr posts 38.095.
"No rear grip at all," complains Capt. No Grip. "Very poor everywhere. Braking and traction also very poor. We never heard a dicky bird from him yesterday!
As Hulkenberg goes third (39.441), ahead of Perez and Ericsson, Nasr runs wide in T11 - a corner which witnessed many such incidents yesterday - throwing up a great cloud of dust/sand.
As Ericsson struggles in a number of corners, the Swede patiently listing them, he is advised that this could be due to crosswinds. The Sauber driver remains unconvinced and pits.
A 37.962 sees Maldonado go quickest but Verstappen is on a hot lap, the youngster finally crossing the line at 39.771 to take second.
Rosberg looks set to be the first of the big guns to post a time, the German going quickest in the final sectors and crossing the line at 37.599. "Too much understeer at the moment," he tells his crew.
Hamilton, Vettel and Raikkonen are now on track, the Briton running wide in T1 after locking up. Elsewhere, the 'monkey seat' falls from Maldonado's car coming out of T3.
A poor S2 means Raikkonen only manages 46.525 whilst teammate Vettel goes quickest in S1, finally crossing the line at 37.290 to go top.
Rosberg improves with a 37.378 but remains second, only to be demoted when Raikkonen bangs in a 36.973.
Hamilton posts 38.078 to go sixth, the world champion having a (deliberately?) low key session thus far. Moments later Bottas goes third, 0.383s off his countryman's pace.
Guess what? Hamilton's seat is warming up again. His rears are overheating also, he warns, without a hint of irony.
Masa goes fifth with a 37.688 as Kvyat's session appears to come to an end, the Russian stranded in the gravel at T4. Replay appears to show him merely allowing the rear end to step out, though he could have done a better job of keeping out of the gravel.
A couple of minutes later the session is red flagged so that the car can be removed.
At this point, with 27:00 remaining, it's: Raikkonen, Vettel, Bottas, Rosberg, Masa, Maldonado, Verstappen, Hamilton, Nasr and Button. Yes Button!
The session resumes at 15:35. However, most drivers appear reluctant to return to work.
Grosjean, one of the few drivers on track, is the latest to lock-up and run wide in T1. Elsewhere, Kvyat is back in the Red Bull garage looking at the data screens. Teammate Ricciardo has completed only 4 laps and is currently twentieth.
"Feels like we had downgrade in power on that lap," complains Button. Teammate Alonso improves to fourteenth with a 38.843.
As Hulkenberg is first to switch top the option rubber, Maldonado improves to fifth with a 37.468.
Hulkenberg, currently on 39.441 and sixteenth, goes quickest in S1, and again in S1. As Rosberg heads down the pitlane, on softs, Hulkenberg crosses the line at 36.421 to go top. That's a 3s improvement.
Unsurprisingly, Rosberg goes quickest in S1, maintaining the pace in S2. At the line the German posts 34.968, his previous best having been 37.378.
Bottas and Massa, both on options, trade fastest sectors, the Brazilian finally posting 35.471 to go second whilst his teammate subsequently demotes him with a 35.393.
Hamilton and Vettel now trade fastest laps, the German subsequently posts 34.668 whilst the Mercedes driver crosses the line at 34.668.
Raikkonen, hampered by traffic, can only manage fourth (35.141), whilst Button goes ninth with a 36.488.
Ricciardo, finally out of the pits, posts 36.335 to go seventh, only to be leapfrogged by Maldonado moments later. Kvyat also looks likely to make a late return to the track.
Indeed, the Russian heads down the pitlane and will have time for one, possibly two, flying laps. He improves to twelfth with a 36.548.
Another big lock-up, followed by a massive slide, for Grosjean.
The session ends with Hamilton quickest, ahead of Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Bottas, Massa, Maldonado, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg and Nasr.
Button is eleventh, ahead of Kvyat, Ericsson, Verstappen, Perez, Alonso, Sainz, Grosjean, Stevens and Merhi.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.