Lewis Hamilton beaten by Nico Rosberg in Bahrain GP practice

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• published: 17 Apr 2015
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Lewis Hamilton beaten by Nico Rosberg in Bahrain GP practice Nico Rosberg pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The two Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton 0.115 seconds behind Rosberg, were half a second faster than the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Williams's Valtteri Bottas was fifth, just 0.003secs behind Vettel and ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton missed out on the fastest time when he ran wide at Turn Eight on his fastest lap, losing about 0.3secs. And both Ferraris could also have gone faster. Vettel ran wide at the last corner on his first flying lap on his qualifying simulation run on the faster 'soft' tyre and failed to improve on his second lap. Raikkonen made the same mistake on his first lap and did improve on his second, but by then the best would have gone from the tyres. Vettel also had trouble later in the session, suffering a brake problem on his exit from the pits and having his front wing damaged as Force India's Sergio Perez cut across him into Turn One. Andrew Benson on Bahrain Bahrain forms the second half of a back-to-back pair of races with China that is no-one's favourite combination of grands prix. From the smog and traffic chaos of Shanghai, F1's circus travels to the monochrome backdrop of Bahrain, where everything - from sky to buildings to desert - seems to be a particular shade of beige. But if you can forget the location and the nagging questions over human rights, Bahrain has come into its own in recent years, once you are inside the track. Turning it into a night race suits it, and what is effectively a karting track writ large, with only one demanding fast corner, has thrown up some decent races - none better than the fantastic duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg last year. And the paddock, dotted with palm trees draped in fairy lights, is among the more pleasant of the year.