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

Formula 1: mercedes impress in opening practice sessions of bahrain grand prix 2010 1
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:

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

In This Story: Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a sovereign state in the Persian Gulf. The island nation comprises a small archipelago made up of 40 natural islands and an additional 51 artificial islands, centered around Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country’s landmass.

The country is situated between the Qatari peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia to which it is connected by the 25-kilometre (16 mi) King Fahd Causeway. According to the 2010 census, Bahrain’s population is over 1.2 million, of which around half are non-nationals. The capital and largest city is Manama.

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