Vettel gave Ferrari a bright start by setting overall best lap time

Manama : Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) announced yesterday that ticket sales for the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix have increased as compared to last year and have already sold out for the University Grandstand and 98 per cent sold out for the Main Grandstand.

With the highly anticipated night race happening tomorrow, this year’s mega event has generated great interest from race fans all over the world.

Tickets will continue to be sold over the next couple of days and can be purchased at the special tent located next to Sakhir petrol station.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel gave Ferrari a bright start to the weekend’s events by setting the day’s overall best lap time after topping the timesheet in both the day’s Formula 1 practices.

The two-time winner with former team Red Bull registered a fastest lap of one minute 31.310 seconds. His best came during a highly competitive evening run, held under BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights, which ended with up to three drivers of having a chance to capture the top spot.

Vettel was a mere 0.041 seconds quicker than Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes, and just (+0.066) ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull in third place.

Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen (+1.168) was ranked fourth off Vettel’s pace, while Lewis Hamiltoin of Mercedes, Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Felipe Massa of Williams and Max Verstappen of Red Bull completed the top eight.

Each of the leading eight drivers had better laps in the second practice than Vettel’s leading lap in the first.

Vettel’s best lap in the opening session was (1:32.697) was (+0.400) faster than Ricciardo and (+0.869) in front of the other Bull of Verstappen.

Sergio Perez of Force India was classified fourth, the Williams pairing of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll were fifth and sixth, respectively, Esteban Ocon of Force India was seventh and Fernando Alonso of McLaren rounded out the top eight.

Formula 1 action resumes on Saturday afternoon with a third practice session starting at 3pm. Qualifying will then be held from 6pm to 7pm under floodlights.

Enrique Iglesias and Steve Aoki are set for epic back-to-back performances tonight following last night’s spectacular

performances by Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, Klingande and MATTN. They will be performing live in back-to-back shows after Formula 1 Qualifying, with Iglesias being the first to take to the stage before Aoki closes out the night in style.

All those with tickets to the Grand Prix weekend will be able to enjoy all the concerts at no extra cost.

Tickets to the race weekend can be purchased at the special tent located next to Sakhir petrol station ranging from BD150 to B60 for the five five grandstands and give a full three-day access to all the racing and entertainment.

Children aged three to 12 years old can get tickets for half the price, while entry is free of charge for those below three years old.

School students aged 13 to 17 years old can get a 25 per cent discount. University students can get 10 per cent off, while senior citizens aged 60 and above along with people with special needs can get 25 per cent discount.

Tickets can be purchased at the BIC stands in Bahrain City Centre or Seef Mall in Seef District, online at www.bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.