MANAMA — Lewis Hamilton led Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in a shimmering one-two in floodlit practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix Friday. The 2008 world champion, winner in steamy Malaysia last weekend ahead of championship leader Rosberg, picked up where he left off on the first day of action at the Sakhir desert circuit. Hamilton was fastest in both sessions with a best time of one minute 34.325 seconds in cooler evening conditions after a 1:37.502 in the afternoon sunshine. Sunday's race, the 10th held in the restive Gulf kingdom since Bahrain hosted the Middle East's first Formula One Grand Prix, has moved to a day-to-night format. With the cars gleaming in the glare of 5,000 bulbs illuminating the track from the newly-installed floodlights, the sleek ‘Silver Arrows' stood out as expected pace-setters. Rosberg's fastest lap, in a session that saw track temperatures drop from 33 degrees celsius on a bright and breezy afternoon to a balmy 25 after dark, was 0.365 slower than his British teammate. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was third fastest in both sessions, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo fourth in the evening and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg filling that spot in the afternoon. Ricciardo again suffered problems with his car's fuel flow sensor, the same part that has failed in both of the first two races of the season. McLaren's Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who will be starting his 250th race Sunday, was fifth and sixth in the respective sessions. The timesheets reinforced Mercedes' early-season superiority, with four cars powered by its engines in the top five after lunch. Williams, which also has Mercedes engines, had Brazilian Felipe Massa fifth in the evening session despite sitting out the first half of the session because it already had plenty of data from eight days of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel was 10th and seventh. Alonso provided some surprise when Ferrari accidentally sent him out with one soft tire and three mediums on his car in the first session. The Spaniard stopped in the pit lane and was pushed back. Three reserve drivers made debut appearances for the season in first practice, with Brazilian Felipe Nasr given track time at Williams, Dutchman Giedo van der Garde at Sauber and compatriot Robin Frijns at Caterham. — Reuters
