Hamilton doubles up to lead Rosberg once again in FP2

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Just as he did in the first practice session on Friday, Lewis Hamilton has finished fastest in FP2 in Bahrain to lead a Mercedes one-two as Nico Rosberg closely followed his teammate in second place.

The British driver posted a fastest lap of 1:34.325 to beat his teammate, and finish over one second clear of the quickest non-Mercedes driver, Fernando Alonso, in third place.

As darkness descended and the lights came on, Formula 1 entered new territory with the first night-time running for the sport at the Bahrain International Circuit. With conditions being far more representative of the race now than they had been during FP1, most of the teams quickly sent out their drivers to get in some lap times.

Predictably, Mercedes laid down the initial benchmark once again on the medium compound tire as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg carried their good form from FP1 into the second session. Hamilton edged out his teammate by 0.095 seconds after their first runs on the medium tire, proving just how evenly matched the two drivers are. Daniel Ricciardo posed the strongest challenge to Mercedes’ dominance on the medium tire, but he was over half a second down on Hamilton.

However, the team did not have it all its own way as Rosberg unintentionally blocked Sergio Perez at the final corner, and both drivers have been called before the stewards to explain the incident.

After half an hour of the session, most of the drivers opted to switch to the soft tire in pursuit of a quicker lap time. In the battle at the top, Rosberg reclaimed first place with a lap that was almost two seconds quicker than Hamilton’s best effort, albeit on the faster tire. Perez moved up into second place with his first effort before Hamilton finally emerged from the pits, and restored the Mercedes one-two by going three-tenths faster than his teammate. Fernando Alonso sat in third place after the soft tire qualifying runs, over one second down on Hamilton’s time.

One team that impressed on the soft tire was Marussia, who got Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton up into P9 and P10 at one point. Although they soon dropped down the order, it was a good showing from the backmarker team that still chases its first point in Formula 1. Chilton’s session came to an early end after a brake problem at the final corner left him stranded in the run-off area, and Adrian Sutil’s car also came to a halt just a few minutes later, ending the Sauber driver’s session. Marcus Ericsson was the third and final driver to come to a halt out on track with just six minutes remaining in the session.

Most of the teams soon turned attention to their race simulations, meaning that the Mercedes drivers remained unchallenged at the top of the timesheets. After spending most of the session in the pits, Williams finally sent its drivers out, but neither Valtteri Bottas nor Felipe Massa could bother the front-runners.

Come the checkered flag, it was Mercedes who once again enjoyed a one-two finish, and after laying down an impressive race pace during the long runs on Friday evening, it appears that it will take something out of the norm to stop either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg from claiming pole position in qualifying tomorrow.

Roger Penske discusses flying tire at Indy 500 with Dallara executives: ‘We’ve got to fix that’

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INDIANAPOLIS – Roger Penske spoke with Dallara executives Monday morning about the loose tire that went flying over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catchfence and into a Turn 2 parking lot.

The left-rear wheel from Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Dallara-Honda was sheared off in a collision at speed as Kirkwood tried to avoid the skidding No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 183 of the 107th Indianapolis 500.

No one seriously was hurt in the incident (including Kirkwood, whose car went upside down and slid for several hundred feet), though an Indianapolis woman’s Chevy Cruze was struck by the tire. The Indy Star reported a fan was seen and released from the care center after sustaining minor injuries from flying debris in the crash.

During a photo shoot Monday morning with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden at the IMS Yard of Bricks, Penske met with Dallara founder and owner Gian Paolo Dallara and Dallara USA CEO Stefano dePonti. The Italian company has been the exclusive supplier of the current DW12 chassis to the NTT IndyCar series for 11 years.

“The good news is we didn’t have real trouble with that tire going out (of the track),” Penske, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020, told a few reporters shortly afterward. “I saw it hit. When it went out, I saw we were OK. I talked to the Dallara guys today. We’re going to look at that, but I guess the shear (force) from when (Rosenqvist’s) car was sitting, (Kirkwood’s car) went over and just that shear force tore that tether. Because we have tethers on there, and I’ve never seen a wheel come off.

“That to me was probably the scariest thing. We’ve got to fix that. We’ve got to fix that so that doesn’t happen again.”

Asked by NBC Sports if IndyCar would be able to address it before Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix or before the next oval race at Iowa Speedway, Penske said, “The technical guys should look at it. I think the speed here, a couple of hundred (mph) when you hit it vs. 80 or 90 or whatever it might be, but that was a pinch point on the race.”

In a statement released Monday to WTHR and other media outlets, IndyCar said that it was “in possession of the tire in Sunday’s incident and found that the tether did not fail. This is an isolated incident, and the series is reviewing to make sure it does not happen again. IndyCar takes the safety of the drivers and fans very seriously. We are pleased and thankful that no one was hurt.”

IndyCar provided no further explanation for how the wheel was separated from the car without the tether failing.

IndyCar began mandating wheel suspension tethers using high-performance Zylon material after a flying tire killed three fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a May 1, 1999 race. Three fans also were struck and killed by a tire at Michigan International Speedway during a July 26, 1998 race.

The IndyCar tethers can withstand a force of more than 22,000 pounds, and the rear wheel tethers were strengthened before the 2023 season.