SM
Friday, November 8
Upcoming predictions and previews

Charles Leclerc off to strong start in Bahrain

:Headline: Charles Leclerc off to strong start in Bahrain: ID:354682: from db_amp
The Italians were blown away by Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

Charles Leclerc finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari's bid to relaunch their championship challenge began in perfect fashion in Bahrain.

The Italians were blown away by a dominant Mercedes team at the season-opening race in Melbourne a fortnight ago.

But on Friday Leclerc ended the first running in the desert almost one second clear of Valtteri Bottas with Lewis Hamilton a distant fourth.

Hamilton, who ran off the circuit during his first flying lap, finished nearly 1.3 seconds behind the Ferrari driver.

The times should be treated with more than a degree of caution given that the afternoon heat is not representative of the cooler conditions for both qualifying and the race which take place in the evening.

Indeed, the day's final session, which gets under way at 6pm local time, should provide a greater indicator of all the drivers' outright pace.

But nevertheless the Ferrari pit wall will have breathed a collective sigh of relief after seeing rivals Mercedes top every practice session in Melbourne, before Hamilton put his Silver Arrows on pole and team-mate Bottas galloped to a convincing win.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fifth-fastest in first practice (Luca Bruno/AP)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen finished fifth, 1.3secs behind Leclerc, and ahead of his team-mate Pierre Gasly in sixth.

The event in the Gulf is effectively a second home race for a McLaren team owned by the Bahraini royal family, and following a rather underwhelming opening to their year at Albert Park, Carlos Sainz finished an encouraging seventh.

His team-mate, the British teenager Lando Norris, was 15th, a full second slower.

Williams are having a grim time of it this year. Their car was not ready in time for testing, and a fortnight ago they were comfortably the slowest team.

Their troubles continued here, with British novice George Russell spinning en route to 19th, 3.8secs off the pace. Team-mate Robert Kubica was last.

amp_article__354682 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-03-29 13:24:30:
html db last update - 2019-03-29 13:24:30 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .