Bahrain Grand Prix 2016 Qualifying: Results, Times from Friday's F1 Practice

Friday's Formula One practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix was all about Mercedes as team-mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton dominated the field.

The Mercedes duo managed to maintain their impressive form after finishing first and second, respectively, at the Australian Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago, and they finished in the same order during both practice session.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel struggled for pace during the first session and suffered a mechanical issue in the second, opening the door for McLaren's Jenson Button to race to the third-quickest time. Vettel wasn't the only one whose car let him down on Friday, as Romain Grosjean's Haas had to overcome multiple issues.

Continue reading for a full recap of Friday's practice.

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FP2 Recap

Here's a look at the final times for the second practice session, courtesy of F1's official Twitter account:

Similar to the first session, Rosberg once again beat team-mate Hamilton to the top spot during the second practice session, beating the Brit by two-tenths of a second. The German has been in superb form early in the season and took the win in the opening grand prix in Australia, and he has to feel good about his chances in Bahrain as well.

On top of clocking the fastest time, Rosberg also completed more laps than any driver, with 38.

Vettel's struggles continued in the second session, as he went half a second slower than Rosberg on the soft tyres, went off the track when he tried his luck with the supersofts and saw his session come to a premature end, per Formula One's official Twitter account:

Ferrari's struggles are a bad omen for the upcoming race, as the Scuderia is regarded as the only team that might challenge Mercedes in 2016. With Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen both struggling for pace in practice, the gap between the Silver Arrows and the rest of the pack was enormous―Button gave up over a second on the Mercedes drivers.

McLaren's sudden burst of pace was undoubtedly the story of the second session, and one few fans and pundits will have seen coming.

BBC TV's Ben Edwards loved what he saw from Button, via Channel 4 F1:

Stoffel Vandoorne also held his own on his debut, an indication McLaren's pace is the real deal, and the team could be in line for a solid weekend.

One man who didn't enjoy Friday's action was Haas' Grosjean, who lost part of his car's nose before it went off the track.

Per F1 Fanatic Live, it's not the first time this issue has come up for the new team:

The Haas mechanics managed to get Grosjean back on track to end the session, but more problems were in store for the Frenchman, as there was smoke coming from his car when the checkered flag flew.

It's unclear what caused the issue, and Haas will have their work cut out finding and fixing the problem before qualifiers start on Saturday. The new qualification system is still in place, so every driver will have to be at his very best from the moment the session starts.

FP1 Recap

Here is a rundown of Friday's first practice, courtesy of Formula One's official Twitter account:

It was apparent quite early in the practice session that Rosberg and Hamilton were poised to be the class of the field. 

That much was pointed out by Mercedes AMG F1, which mentioned how far the cars have come over the past year:

F1 confirmed that progress by revealing Rosberg shattered the 2015 qualifying mark with his remarkable run in Bahrain Friday:

While Rosberg beat out his team-mate by more than half a second, Hamilton was strong in his own right, as he posted the best time in the first sector of the track:

Aside from Hamilton, the only other driver who managed to remain within two seconds of Rosberg was Raikkonen, although his Ferrari was never really in the hunt for anything other than a third-place result.

A few drivers attempted to build upon great showings in Australia, much like Rosberg and Hamilton, but they struggled to do so.

Williams' Felipe Massa was among them on the heels of a fifth-place finish two weeks ago. The Brazilian had to settle for 10th in the practice session, though, due largely to issues with his tires locking up:

Australian Grand Prix six-place finisher Grosjean ran into the same problem, which relegated him to ninth place in practice:

Tire locking plagued a significant portion of the field Friday. However, Rosberg and Hamilton had no such misfortune during their virtuoso outings.

Hamilton won last year's Bahrain Grand Prix with Rosberg finishing third behind Raikkonen, but the roles could be reversed in 2016 if practice was any indication.

Rosberg is first in the standings with just one event in the books, and after finishing second in the drivers' championship in each of the past two years, he seems to be trending toward making a legitimate run at his first title.

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