Hamilton sets pace in practice
LEWIS Hamilton raised hope of taking the fight to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after finishing fastest in practice.
The seven-time world champion led a Mercedes one-two under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz fourth.
World champion Verstappen finished sixth, nearly half-a-second back for Red Bull.
Verstappen had been regarded as the heavy favourite heading into the curtain raiser in the Gulf kingdom.
But the Dutch driver bemoaned the handling of his machine in the first running and then failed to match the speed of the Mercedes drivers later in the day. “Everything is s***,” yelled Verstappen over the radio during the first session. “Like miles off.”
The Silver Arrows went under the radar at last week’s test in Bahrain, but they were quietly optimistic heading into today’s running – and the second session belonged to the team that once dominated the sport. Hamilton, who has not won a race for two years, was back at the top of the order as the seven-time world champion enjoyed a two-tenth margin to team-mate George Russell, with Alonso 0.286 seconds off the pace.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Ricciardo was the surprise name at the top of the time sheet.
The Australian – driving for the newly rebranded RB team – saw off Lando Norris by just 0.032secs, with Oscar Piastri third in the other McLaren.
Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022, but he was handed a lifeline by Red Bull’s junior team midway through last season. He finished 11th in the day’s concluding running.
Although times in testing have to be treated with caution as the teams trial varying fuel loads – indeed Ricciardo set his speediest lap on the softest tyre compound – RB could prove a surprise package. Ricciardo’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth in the first session, three tenths back.