Formula 1: Mercedes Impress in Opening Practice Sessions of Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

By Robin Scott; published on March 12, 2010 at 7:11 pm

Mercedes GP - Ross Brawn's Latest Re-Brand

In the first two days of practice, ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship 2010 in Bahrain, Mercedes have shown that they are to be this years trailblazers with the first and third best times posted in Friday practice.

Nico Rosberg was fastest, posting a lap of 1:55.555, while many eyes were on returning 7 times World Champion Michael Schumacher, also of Mercedes GP, who posted the third best time, 0.494 (nearly half a second) shy of the time set by his teammate. The two Mercedes GP men were split by Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren, which also runs a Mercedes engine, so, all-in-all, it was a great practice for the German manufacturer.

Jenson Button, defending World Champ, wasn’t far away in fourth place, making it Merces-McLaren-Mercedes-McLaren for the top four as we head into Saturday’s qualifying round.

Expect Schumacher to turn on the style tomorrow, however, as he explained that the team had had “a few issues with the balance this morning. The car felt much better in the second session although I am still a little rusty on one-lap runs and need to get back into the routine… I’m happy with our work today and feeling ready for the weekend.”

Bahrain Grand Prix Friday Practice Times:

Nico Rosberg – Mercedes GP – 1:55.409
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren – 1:55.854
Michael Schumacher – Mercedes GP – 1:55.903
Jenson Button – McLaren – 1:56.706
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull – 1:56.459
Nico Hulkenburg – Williams – 1:56.501
Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:56.555
Vitaly Petrov – Renault – 1:56.750
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:57.140
Pedro de la Rosa – BMW Sauber – 1:57.255

Posted by Robin Scott on March 12, 2010. Filed under Formula 1,Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

News Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Grand Prix 2010, F1, FIA, Formula 1, Grand Prix, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Ross Brawn.