Massa fastest as Hamilton crashes out

Ferrari continued to dominate Bahrain Grand Prix practice in the second session, with Felipe Massa again leading teammate Kimi Raikkonen in a one-two.

The Brazilian ended the afternoon almost one second quicker than Raikkonen, having lapped in 1:31.420 in the final seconds.

McLaren finished third and fourth, but Lewis Hamilton ended the afternoon in the barriers.

The Briton lost control of his car on the exit of Turn 7 and spun across the track, hitting the opposite barriers side-on and causing heavy damage to the right-hand side of the car. Hamilton was unharmed in the incident.

Raikkonen and Hamilton swapped the top spot between them in the early stages, before Massa took control with a 1:32.722 lap, 0.127 seconds quicker than Hamilton`s previous best.

Bar a few minutes when Raikkonen edged ahead with his final run, Massa remained on top for the rest of the afternoon. He improved his time to 1:32.393 on soft tyres, which Raikkonen beat by 0.066 seconds with three minutes remaining.

But Massa responded in emphatic style, going fastest by 0.907 seconds with his last lap of the day.

Heikki Kovalainen had languished near the foot of the top ten in the first half of the session, then improved to third later on. He was 0.095 seconds quicker then teammate Hamilton even before the latter`s accident.

BMW`s Robert Kubica finished the session in fifth place, 1.4 seconds off the pace but only 0.5 seconds behind Raikkonen.

Williams continued their strong morning form with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima taking sixth and eighth respectively, split by Red Bull driver David Coulthard.

Sebastien Bourdais was as high as second for Toro Rosso early in the session. He was eventually pushed back to ninth, ahead of Renault`s Nelson Piquet, who was two places ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:31.420 30
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:32.327 + 0.907 30
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:32.752 + 1.332 30
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:32.847 + 1.427 26
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:32.915 + 1.495 29
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.022 + 1.602 34
7. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.048 + 1.628 27
8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.098 + 1.678 33
9. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:33.197 + 1.777 37
10. Piquet Renault (B) 1:33.247 + 1.827 37
11. Button Honda (B) 1:33.710 + 2.290 33
12. Alonso Renault (B) 1:33.755 + 2.335 26
13. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.782 + 2.362 34
14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:33.822 + 2.402 38
15. Glock Toyota (B) 1:33.856 + 2.436 30
16. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:33.966 + 2.546 35
17. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:34.023 + 2.603 36
18. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:34.388 + 2.968 35
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:34.405 + 2.985 34
20. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.787 + 3.367 30
21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:35.288 + 3.868 24
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:35.712 + 4.292 25

4.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Hamilton, Massa, testing    ▪ www.autosport.com