The German, who had trailed the Monegasque in the first of the day's two sessions
Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel walks in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit in the desert south of the Bahraini capital Manama, on March 29, 2019. Pic/AFP
Sebastian Vettel narrowly beat team-mate Charles Leclerc to the fastest time as Ferrari signalled a return to form with a dominant display in Friday’s practice for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix.
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The German, who had trailed the Monegasque in the first of the day’s two sessions, lapped the 5.4-kilometer long Sakhir desert track in one minute 28.846 seconds under the floodlights in the evening, pipping Leclerc by just 0.035 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton, fourth in the afternoon behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas, was the quickest Mercedes in the evening as the pair swapped positions.
But the Briton could get no closer than 0.603 seconds off Vettel’s benchmark after Bottas had been nearly a second off Leclerc’s benchmark time in the afternoon.
The speed Ferrari showed on Friday will have come as a relief to the Italian glamour team, even if the gaps close up during Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.
Tipped as the pre-season favourites, the Maranello-based squad were surprisingly off the pace two weeks ago at the season-opener in Australia, with Vettel and Leclerc finishing fourth and fifth nearly a minute behind race winner Bottas.
Their Friday form in Bahrain, where they have won six times including the last two years in succession, will have given them confidence that that was a temporary blip while also sounding a warning to rivals.
Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive fifth-fastest for Renault beating Max Verstappen’s Honda-powered Red Bull by less than a tenth of a second.
The Dutchman, who scored a podium for the Red Bull-Honda partnership in Australia in their first race together, had been fifth in the afternoon.
Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas ahead of McLaren’s British rookie Lando Norris and team-mate Romain Grosjean.
Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top-ten.
Friday’s sessions were largely uneventful.
Vettel suffered a tyre smoking spin at the exit of Turn 2 late during the evening’s running but continued on.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Hulkenberg banged wheels in the dying seconds of the opening session. They were called in to see the stewards who let them off with no further action.
Canadian Lance Stroll also spun out early in the session gently nudging the barriers with the front wing of his Racing Point car.
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