Mercedes hit by 'completely different' Ferrari at Bahrain GP
Ferrari half a second ahead of world champions in Practice Two but say Friday picture "misleading"; Bahrain GP exclusively live on Sky Sports this weekend
Saturday 30 March 2019 13:13, UK
Mercedes fear a "completely different" Ferrari are ready to rip up F1's early-season formbook after the Scuderia dominated Friday practice at the Bahrain GP.
But Ferrari are remaining very cautious, with team boss Mattia Binotto describing Friday's timesheet as "misleading".
Just two weeks after their status as favourites for the Australian GP gave way to a wretched opening weekend, Ferrari outpaced Melbourne victors Mercedes by 0.6s under the Bahrain lights.
"The Ferraris have been quick from the get-go and picked up more pace from there, so it's completely different to what we've seen in Melbourne," said Lewis Hamilton.
"At the moment it looks like the Ferraris are ahead, so we have to keep our heads down, keep working, analyse things tonight and try and come back stronger tomorrow."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agreed, adding to Sky F1: "It's a completely different Ferrari to what we saw in Melbourne.
"In terms of pure pace, it's definitely more Barcelona than it was in Melbourne."
Hamilton also explained that Mercedes had "issues" with the balance in their W10.
"I think as we get to qualifying, everything will get a little bit closer," the world champion stated. "But it's going to be a tough battle."
Ferrari completed what Sebastian Vettel, Friday's pacesetter, described as an "intense" fortnight of analysis into what went wrong in Melbourne - when only the SF90's fast-corner performance resembled what they had seen in winter testing.
Full timesheet from Practice One
Full timesheet from Practice Two
Find out more about Sky Sports F1
The team's straight-line speed was also noticeably - and unusually - poor, but one of Ferrari's recent traits has been back in evidence in Bahrain.
"You can see the enormous straight-line power of the Ferrari, it is where they are making all the gains up," said Wolff.
Ferrari to dominate or things closer than they seem?
While pleased to see they had no repeat of their Melbourne set-up and balance issues, Ferrari believe Mercedes and Red Bull did not show their full hands on Friday.
"We focused on ourselves and our programmes on the modifications we made after Australia to react and to address the issues we had. But I think [on Saturday] it will be a tougher battle, the others will be stronger," predicted Binotto.
"It's quite obvious. You see the GPS data, the speed on the straights. We were certainly pushing different engine modes compared to what the others were doing."
Mercedes too sensed a direct comparison had yet to be seen. "Ferrari are clearly quick on the straights here but it may be that they are running their power unit a little bit harder than we were today; we'll find out tomorrow," said Andrew Shovlin.
The Sky F1 pundits on Ferrari's recovery
Paul Di Resta
"Ferrari are just in a different league on the straights. This is the Ferrari we've seen in Barcelona, and the Ferrari they didn't get together in Melbourne.
"Somehow, Mercedes shocked us there. If we can see the Ferraris on the front row, I want to see what Mercedes' answer is."
Anthony Davidson
"They're back. This is the speed that we were missing from them in Melbourne. They didn't understand why they were so slow on the straights but it's not the case here so far this weekend.
"They're the ones setting the times and it's up to everyone else to play catch-up. Can Mercedes turn it around?"
David Croft
"That is the sort of a margin people thought we would be seeing in Australia. We'll wait to see whether that's the margin in qualifying.
"But if you're Ferrari, this is how you'd have wanted the day to go."
Karun Chandhok
"This is the car we were expecting to see in Melbourne. The car looks comfortable to drive, and the drivers look confident."
Simon Lazenby
"It seems that what we saw in Barcelona may have been fact."
Sky Sports F1's Bahrain GP schedule
Saturday, March 30
10am: Formula 2 Race One LIVE!
11.45am: Bahrain GP Practice Three Build-up
12pm: Bahrain GP Practice Three LIVE!
1.10pm: Paddock Walkabout LIVE!
2pm: Bahrain GP Qualifying Build-up (Simulcast on Sky One)
3pm: Bahrain GP Qualifying LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event)
4.30pm: The F1 Show LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event)
Sunday, March 31
12.10pm: Formula 2 Race Two LIVE!
2pm: The F1 Show Repeat (Simulcast on Sky One)
2.30pm: Bahrain GP Pit Lane LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky One)
3.30pm: Bahrain GP On The Grid LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky One)
4.10pm: THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky One)
6pm: Bahrain GP Paddock LIVE! (Simulcast on Sky One)
7pm: Bahrain GP Race Replay (Simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event)
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