The opening Friday practice for the 2013 Bahrain GP would be a positive one for Williams F1's Valtteri Bottas finishing in 12th. For team-mate Pastor Maldonado he would finish in 16th some seven tenths slower than Valtteri. Both drivers would complete tests of different rear wings.
Bahrain GP Friday 1st
Practice
The Williams F1
team would commence their 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend with the opening
Friday practice at the Bahrain circuit. Pirelli would be supplying their
medium and hard compounds for this meeting while there would be two DRS
zones, one on the pit straight and the other on the straight between Turns
10 and 11. It was hot and dry as the session got underway. Gutierrez and Chilton were
the first two drivers to take to the track, followed by Perez. Pastor
Maldonado would be first out for Williams followed by Valtteri Bottas.
Everyone was out on the hard tyre as Marussia reserve Rodolfo Gonzalez had
taken to the track, taking over Bianchi's car for this session. Caterham had brought in Kovalainen replacing
Giedo van der Garde' in this session.
Both Williams drivers would pit after their installation lap as more drivers
took to the track. Yet to come out would be the Mercedes cars, while Massa
would be the last car to pit leaving the track empty. Fifteen minutes of the
session completed and no times had been set. Perez would be the first driver
to return to the track followed by Alonso. Perez would pit without setting a
time as Hamilton and Rosberg left their pits. Alonso would pit as Hulkenberg
came out. Hamilton would pit while Rosberg would go around for a second lap.
Hulkenberg would set a 1m:42.500 while Rosberg pitted. Hulkenberg would
improve with a 1m:40.521. Gutierrez and Raikkonen would take to the track
with just over an hour remaining. Hulkenberg would pit as Gutierrez
set a 1m:38.556 to be quickest but he would be passed by Raikkonen with a
1m:35.533.
Button and Perez would take to the track as Gutierrez pitted. Perez was now
second with a 1m:36.651. Sutil was next out as Raikkonen improved with a
1m:35.345. Button was now second with a 1m:35.745. But he would improve with
a 1m:35.305 to be quickest. Raikkonen was second followed by Sutil and
Perez. Both Williams drivers were out on the track with Pastor setting a 1m:37.793 to be fifth.
Sutil was now fastest with a 1m:35.119 but Vettel would move ahead with a
1m:34.978. Pastor was now sixth with an improved 1m:36.498 and Valtteri
eighth with a 1m:37.265. Valtteri would also find some time setting a
1m:35.783 to be sixth and Pastor now seventh. Ricciardo was now eighth. We
had yet to see times from either Rosberg or Hamilton. Both Williams drivers
would pit having completed seven laps.
Forty minutes remaining and Vergne was now ninth. We now had both Mercedes
cars out on the track as Rosberg sets a 1m:35.834 to be eighth while Webber
was now second, 1m:35.101. Valtteri was now seventh and Pastor ninth. Di
Resta was up to sixth, 1m:35.349, seeing both Williams drivers drop down the
order. Hamilton and Rosberg were ninth and tenth. Valtteri was now ninth and
Pastor fourteenth. Rosberg was now fastest with a 1m:34.621 but he was
quickly passed by Alonso with a 1m:34.564. Valtteri was now tenth and Pastor
fifteenth. Di Resta was up to fourth with a 1m:34.949 followed by Webber,
Sutil, Button, Raikkonen, Perez, and Valtteri. Both McLaren's were on the track with just over thirty minutes
remaining. Massa was slowest but was on a quicker lap setting a 1m:35.039 to
be fifth. He would find more pace and set a 1m:34.487 to be quickest. Both
Williams drivers had returned to the track with Valtteri now twelfth and
Pastor sixteenth.
With twenty minutes remaining Massa was fastest from Alonso, Rosberg,
Vettel, Di Resta, Button, Webber, Sutil, Raikkonen, and Grosjean tenth.
Hamilton was currently thirteenth as both Williams drivers pitted having
completed a handful of laps each. Valtteri was twelfth and Pastor sixteenth.
With ten minutes remaining the track was very busy but both Williams drivers
were still in their garages. With most drivers on tyres that were quite worn
there was little improvement in terms of times. Both Valtteri and Pastor
would return to the track for their final run. As the final minutes counted
down all were out on the track except for both Marussia cars. The Williams
pair were evaluating different rear wings in their final run as the session
came to a close. A positive start for Valtteri being seven tenths faster
than Pastor. Massa would remain fastest from Alonso and Rosberg.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m34.487s 11
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.564s 19
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.621s 22
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m34.790s 20
5. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m34.949s 17
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.069s 22
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m35.101s 19
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m35.119s 19
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m35.345s 17
10. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m35.611s 14
11. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.640s 23
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m35.783s 16
13. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m35.792s 16
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m36.014s 19
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m36.485s 20
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m36.498s 17
17. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.755s 20
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.214s 21
19. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m37.850s 20
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m38.401s 20
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m39.445s 12
22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.215s 7
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