Postpublished at 13:26 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Oh dear, not good for Stoffel Vandoorne, who needs every lap he can get.
There's also a problem for Max Verstappen. He is over team radio saying: "The battery is draining like hell."
Summary
Hamilton on pole, Rosberg 2nd, Vettel 3rd, Raikkonen 4th
Kvyat and Button out - Vandoorne ahead of Briton in Q2
Renaults and Perez out in Q1, Wehrlein 16th
Postpublished at 13:26 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 13:25 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in BahrainNot what Stoffel Vandoorne needed - an oil leak, Tom Clarkson reports. McLaren say he'll "hopefully" be out again.
Postpublished at 13:24 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Nico Rosberg takes his place at the top of the timesheet with a 1:33.150 on the softs. That's about a second slower than his best on the yellow walled tyres yesterday.
Lewis Hamilton then goes and clocks the EXACT same time. Rosberg stays top by virtue of having done his lap before Hamilton.
Postpublished at 13:20 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Sebastian Vettel, softs on his Ferrari and wheel nut presumably screwed extra tight this time, goes fourth fastest with 1:34.909. Kimi Raikkonen isn't in a rush to head out, he is sat in the Ferrari garage although, rather surprisingly, isn't munching on an ice cream.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg emerge for their out laps as Nico Hulkenberg goes second fastest with 1:34.281. A Force India one-two at the moment.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 13:18 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Jolyon Palmer is suiting up for his first run in the Renault today.
If I worked in the Renault garage all day I don't think I'd ever eat a banana again. Everything is so yellow.
Postpublished at 13:15 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Fifteen minutes in and we have our first couple of timed laps - Sergio Perez is the current pacesetter, having clocked 1:34.281 on the soft tyre.
Daniel Ricciardo's first timed effort is half a second slower than Perez.
No sign of either Mercedes drivers at the moment, Nico Rosberg is currently soaking up a bit of the sun. Sebastian Vettel has come out to play though.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 13:11 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 13:11 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in BahrainOn the face of it, Stoffel Vandoorne did not have a great first day for his McLaren debut - a second off Jenson Button in the first session on Friday and 0.8secs off in the second. But appearances can be deceptive. The Belgian ran different tyres to Button in the first session and on the second but for a mistake at Turn One on his fastest lap would have been in the ballpark.
Vandoorne himself said it had been “a very good day for me” and that he was “very confident” about Saturday. And he thanks Fernando Alonso, who he his replacing because the Spaniard was ruled out on medical grounds following his heavy crash in Australia, for sticking around to help. Vandoorne said he was aware many would regard this chance as an audition for a full-time drive in 2017 but that he was “not really thinking about that at the moment”.
Postpublished at 13:09 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Stoffel Vandoorne completes an install lap and is back in the pits, leaving just Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas swooping around under the glare of the sun.
Get involved #whatmakesF1awesomepublished at 13:06 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 13:06 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Esteban Gutierrez is the first out on the track. Install lap done, he heads back in as Marcus Ericsson, Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Massa take to the circuit for the first time today.
Uh oh, an early problem for Jenson Button? "The car sounds a little different," he reports over team radio, before he is wheeled back into the McLaren garage.
Postpublished at 13:03 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Go! Go! Go!published at 13:02 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
One hour of final practice is under way.
Remember you can listen to 5 live commentary on practice on this page. Click on the live coverage tab and away you go.
Postpublished at 13:02 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 13:01 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
A contender for #whatmakesF1awesome, external? Loving Felipe's shades.
Postpublished at 12:59 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in BahrainThe weather has been unusually cool for this part of the world for the last two days - so much so that a light jacket or jumper has been needed in the evenings in the paddock. But it’s noticeably warmer on Saturday. Still a relatively cool 24C, but the cloud cover has gone, replaced with Bahrain’s more usual blue-yellow sky. This will inevitably have an effect on car performance - but will it help Ferrari close what appeared on Friday to be a yawning chasm to Mercedes?
Postpublished at 12:58 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Well, sunny for final practice. It won't be sunny for qualifying because it will be getting dark, obvs.
Sunny and dry all daypublished at 12:56 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Blow for K-Magpublished at 12:56 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Image source, Getty ImagesA bad start to the weekend for Kevin Magnussen, who will start tomorrow's race from the pit lane.
The Renault man has been punished for failing to stop at a red light for a weight check during second practice.
Postpublished at 12:55 British Summer Time 2 April 2016