German F1 domination

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg clocked the fasted time at Friday's second practice session ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday. He came in at 1 minute 55.409 seconds, just ahead of Britain's Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.

Yet all eyes at the Sakhir circuit were on Michael Schumacher who came in third. The seven-time world champion has only just returned to the sport after three years in retirement.

"I was right in being excited about this," Schumacher said after the race. "It was interesting and a lot of fun!"

Although Schumacher was outpaced by Hamilton and team mate Rosberg in the end, his strong performance served to back up his claim that he still has a shot at adding yet another title to his collection

Lack of routine for Schumacher

The former world champion however had to admit that he still needs to improve here and there.

"You certainly could tell from some details that I'm still missing some of the routine. I'll have to get that over the weekend, so I still have a bit of work to do."

Fourth place went to reigning world champion Jenson Button while Germany's Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull came fifth. Vettel was followed by yet another German driver, Nico Hulkenburg of Williams.

Brazillian Felipe Massa and Ferrari team mate and two-times champion Fernando Alonso from Spain both seemed to struggle and only made it to seventh and ninth place

Practice sessions, however, are not always an indication of how drivers will perform in the actual race. Teams use the opportunity to try out different fuel loads and are still fine tuning their set-ups.

Saturday's qualifying will the first real test of who will be racing for the top spots in this eagerly awaited Formula One season.

ai/dpa/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Rob Turner