Sakhir, 13th April 2007

First and second in the morning, first and fourth in the afternoon and a total of 99 laps for the two F2007; that is the numerical summing up of the first day of practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix for Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Finnish driver was quickest all day, with the Brazilian ending up fourth. Lap times were always expected to be closer between the teams this year, because of the lack of a tyre war and also because of an imposed 19,000 rpm limit on engine speeds. Today, this definitely seemed to be the case as the top six in this afternoon's session all finished within 0.446 seconds of one another, from 1.33.527 for Raikkonen to the Williams-Toyota of Alex Wurz, sixth in 1.33.973. No real surprises for the top six as second quickest was the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, followed by the BMW-Sauber of Robert Kubica. Behind Massa came the winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso in the other McLaren-Mercedes. As usual, track conditions were difficult today, as the surface is dirty, with sand being blown across it by a wind that also affects car handling.
As usual, the Sakhir circuit sees more activity in the paddock than in Malaysia a few days ago, as although it is very hot here, humidity levels are much lower, the weather is more pleasant and so drivers and team personnel are happy to stay outside.
However, last night, a mini-tornado ripped through the paddock, uprooting a few tents and causing some damage and for tomorrow, thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon, hopefully not during qualifying.