Manama: British rookie Lewis Hamilton continued his sensational start to the Formula One season by posting the fastest time in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 22-year-old McLaren driver pipped Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by 0.006 of a second with the fastest lap of the weekend so far, 1:32.543, near the end of the session.
Raikkonen had been quickest throughout Friday and Ferrari will be chasing their fifth successive pole position in qualifying.
Increasingly hailed as a future world champion after finishing third in his debut race in Australia and second in Malaysia, Hamilton can make grand prix history on Sunday as the first driver to finish his first three races on the podium.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said the Briton had all the makings of "Formula One's next superstar".
"He's young, good-looking and talks to people," he said of Formula One's first black driver.
"He is selling the business, 100 per cent." Hamilton's teammate, double world champion Fernando Alonso, was seventh fastest.
The Spaniard, who leads Raikkonen by two points after two races following last weekend's McLaren one-two in Malaysia, needed repairs to his car after a part of the overhead gantry in the McLaren garage fell on it during the night.
"There was some minor damage to a wing on Fernando's car which the team quickly repaired," a McLaren spokesperson said.
"The team will investigate the cause of the incident but are confident this will not happen again."
Alonso has won the last two Bahrain Grands Prix with Renault.
BMW Sauber looked strong in the final session, with Germany's Nick Heidfeld third fastest and Poland's Robert Kubica fourth.
Briton Anthony Davidson was fifth in a Super Aguri, ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Champions Renault moved slightly up the timesheets, breaking into the top 10 for the first time in Bahrain practice with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella ninth and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen 10th.
Comments
0 comment