|
Team Summary:
The opening hour long Friday practice for the 2021 Bahrain GP would get
underway with a group of cars coming out led by the Alpines. There was a mix
of all three tyre types and after single laps the majority would pit. Ocon
would set a 1m:36.284 from Alonso both on the hard tyre. Then the McLaren's
would go quickest with Norris setting a 1m:33.361.Perez would go quickest on
the soft only to see Hamilton move ahead with a 1m:32.844 from Perez and
Norris. Perez had move ahead of Hamilton but Bottas would pass both with a
1m:32.709 using the soft tyre. But Verstappen was now quickest with a
1m:32.591 also on the soft.
But Hamilton would respond again on the soft tyre setting a 1m:32.214 to be
quickest. Verstappen was second followed by Bottas, Perez, Gasly, Norris,
Vettel, Stroll, Raikkonen and Ricciardo tenth. The Williams drivers were now
13th and 14th. Verstappen would improve to be 0.2 behind Hamilton. The
Williams drivers were 15th and 17th with thirty five minutes remaining.
After soft tyres runs the Williams drivers were 13th and 16th with George
ahead of Nicholas. On the soft tyre Norris would go quickest with a
1m:31.897 to move ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc on the soft would move into
second and Sainz now fourth. But Gasly would move into third ahead of
Hamilton.
Both Williams drivers were out on used hard tyres spending the time going
through the pits. Norris was still quickest from Leclerc, Gasly, Hamilton,
Sainz, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Bottas, Perez, and Giovinazzi tenth. Bottas
back out on the soft tyre would move ahead of Norris with a 1m:31.692. The
Williams pair were 17th and 18th with only the Haas cars behind. Verstappen
was back out for another soft tyre run and would go quickest with a
1m:31.394, from Bottas and Norris. Both Williams drivers were on longer hard
tyre runs finishing the session in 17th and 18th. Verstappen would top the
times in that session, with Bottas, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly,
Sainz, Ricciardo and Giovinazzi completing the top 10. As for the
performance of the Williams pair it was in line with both drivers comments
in interviews that the weekend was going to be difficult.
George Russell:
George would follow his team-mate out also on the hard tyre. George would
set a 1m:36.545 to be sixth. But George would improve with a 1m:35.694 to
currently be seventh. He would drop to ninth as he pitted after a five lap
run. With thirty eight minutes remaining George would return using the soft
tyre. He would set a 1m:34.127 to be 12th. This would become 13th behind
Giovinazzi. he would pit returning on another set of soft tyres and but
would fail to improve remaining 13th and returning to the pits. AS Alonso
went quicker he would drop to 14th. With just under twenty minutes remaining
George would return this time using the hard tyre currently 16th. He would
drop to 17th and would pit after a ten lap run on the hard tyres with the
end of the session.
Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would be first out for his installation lap running on the hard
tyre. Nicholas would set a 1m:36.979 to be third dropping to seventh. But
Nicholas would improve with a 1m:26.282 to be sixth moving ahead of his
team-mate. Nicholas would comment that he felt like he was been pushed like
it was a throttle issue. Nicholas would pit after a five lap run. Nicholas
would also return on the soft tyre. He was currently 17th but with an
improved lap he would set a 1m:34.340 to be 16th. He would also complete a
second soft tyre run but would also fail to improve dropping to 17th.
Nicholas was back out joining his team-mate with fifteen minutes remaining.
Nicholas was just 0.213 behind his team-mate as he completed a ten lap run
on the hard tyres pitting with the end of the session. |
