Kimi Raikkonen admits Alfa Romeo head into the weekend a little blind about their potential, after a tricky Friday in Bahrain.
The Finn’s first session was about survival as he narrowly avoided two clashes with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon en route to a P10 finish.
Under the lights, however, a water leak for both himself and teammate Antonio Giovinazzi left both drivers well down the order.
“Unfortunately, we had a leak in the cooling system and they almost got it back together, but it was too late,” Raikkonen explained.
“At least we got a few laps in and the car felt good, but obviously the problem is that the conditions in the morning session are completely different from the ones in the second practice.
“Those would have been the proper conditions for the race, so it’s a bit unknown right now, but I think we should be OK. We’ll try to work as much as we can tomorrow and see what we can get.”
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With the final practice on Saturday also taking place in the heat of the afternoon, it means Alfa is at a disadvantage in what is again a very compact midfield.
Despite that, the 2007 world champion remains upbeat.
“It’s hard to say because we didn’t put the second run together,” he said on expectations for qualifying. “In the first run, the car felt very good but I didn’t manage a very good lap, so it will be a bit more unknown than if we would have run again.
“I don’t think it’s an awfully different picture than what we had in the last race. It will be very close and if we get good laps in then they’ll give you a very good result. We’ll see after tomorrow.”
Raikkonen was also asked about a slightly embarrassing spin at the start of second practice, as cold tyres saw him lose control exiting Turn 1.
“I ran out of talent,” he laughed. “With the new tyres, they are shining and it was a bit slippery in the first corner. I was just caught out.”