Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen top the times in Bahrain - Two practice sessions complete, two different drivers at the top
Published by Christine
First practice always gets off to a quiet start, and when drivers finally did take to the track in Bahrain, they discovered a dusty surface awaiting them. Several participants found themselves running wide at various corners, but there were no major incidents throughout the first ninety minutes.
There were two Friday drivers in action, with Heikki Kovalainen in for Caterham, and Rodolfo González in the car for Marussia. Felipe Massa set the fastest time with his teammate directly behind, the pair followed by Nico Rosberg and then Sebastian Vettel.
The second session did feature one small incident, when Esteban Gutiérrez lost the back-end of his Sauber and swiped into the Caterham of Charles Pic. Gutiérrez gained a puncture, whilst Pic remained unscathed.
Fernando Alonso set an early benchmark, soon to be beaten by Mark Webber. Both were topped by the Lotus of Kimi Räikkönen, possibly spurred on by radio about Romain Grosjean posting faster times, and possibly not. Meanwhile, Paul di Resta was putting in a good day's work by finishing fifth in both first and second practice.
