Nico Rosberg continued his and Mercedes’ strong showing today in Bahrain after topping the times during the second free practice session. Rosberg was 7 tenths faster than Hamilton’s lap in Free Practice 1.
Mark Webber took 2nd, 3 tenths ahead of Red Bull teammate and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
Lewis Hamilton, who couldn’t improve on his FP1 lap, settled for 4th place, while Michael Schumacher was 5th, a second slower than Rosberg in the second Mercedes.
Jenson Button was 6th best; the Briton complained about his car’s setup during the session, and seemed to be lacking pace.
Kamui Kobayashi emerged from the midfield to take 7th, with Fernando Alonso, who struggled with his car earlier today, behind him in 8th.
Romain Grosjean pushed his Lotus to 9th, while Sergio Perez’s 10th place put both Saubers in the top 10.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.816s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m33.262s + 0.446 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m33.525s + 0.709 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.747s + 0.931 5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m33.862s + 1.046 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.246s + 1.430 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.411s + 1.595 8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.449s + 1.633 9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m34.615s + 1.799 10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.893s + 2.077 11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.895s + 2.079 12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m34.941s + 2.125 13. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m35.183s + 2.367 14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.229s + 2.413 15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m35.459s + 2.643 16. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m35.913s + 3.097 17. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m35.968s + 3.152 18. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m36.169s + 3.353 19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.587s + 3.771 20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m37.803s + 4.987 21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m37.812s + 4.996 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m39.649s + 6.833