Day 2 in Bahrain brought more F1 goodness , and with it , another case of a pecking order that was quite literally night and day .
Taking place under the afternoon sun , FP3 was a curious affair , its combination of 34-degree heat and heavy winds making it particularly precarious to navigate . Drivers and teams alike were put off by the conditions , with neither Mercedes , Ferrari nor Red Bull setting a time in the first 45 minutes , while Romain Grosjean struggled for balance and took out his frustrations on the turn 4 wall . Surprisingly , the fastest time belonged to Max Verstappen , but just as unsurprisingly , it didn ’ t hold up in qualifying .
Moving on to the hour of power , and what an hour it ended up being for Valtteri Bottas . With Asian Jesus ( a . k . a . Steve Aoki ) taking a break from Easter festivities to watch from the garage , the Finn took the first pole of his career , giving a much-needed response to the criticism that ’ s been steadily building this season .
Could Lewis Hamilton have taken pole had he not made a mistake on his final lap ? Maybe , however sometimes it ’ s not all about being the fastest driver , but the steadiest . An impressive job from Valtteri , and one that means for at least tonight , he ’ s not second-fiddle .
On the other end of the spectrum , Ferrari may have just experienced the first significant disappointment of their season after finishing almost half-a-second down on Mercedes .
BAHRAIN REVIEW BY BEN STEVENS
Saturday
Day 2 in Bahrain brought more F1 goodness , and with it , another case of a pecking order that was quite literally night and day .
Taking place under the afternoon sun , FP3 was a curious affair , its combination of 34-degree heat and heavy winds making it particularly precarious to navigate . Drivers and teams alike were put off by the conditions , with neither Mercedes , Ferrari nor Red Bull setting a time in the first 45 minutes , while Romain Grosjean struggled for balance and took out his frustrations on the turn 4 wall . Surprisingly , the fastest time belonged to Max Verstappen , but just as unsurprisingly , it didn ’ t hold up in qualifying .
Moving on to the hour of power , and what an hour it ended up being for Valtteri Bottas . With Asian Jesus ( a . k . a . Steve Aoki ) taking a break from Easter festivities to watch from the garage , the Finn took the first pole of his career , giving a much-needed response to the criticism that ’ s been steadily building this season .
Could Lewis Hamilton have taken pole had he not made a mistake on his final lap ? Maybe , however sometimes it ’ s not all about being the fastest driver , but the steadiest . An impressive job from Valtteri , and one that means for at least tonight , he ’ s not second-fiddle .
On the other end of the spectrum , Ferrari may have just experienced the first significant disappointment of their season after finishing almost half-a-second down on Mercedes .