Max Verstappen claims any decision to ban Mercedes from using their so-called 'party mode' on the engine would be "unfair".

After Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position in Australia by two-thirds of a second, many bemoaned the ability of the world champions to use a special setting which gave a boost in power for a short time.

Following the weekend, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner called on the FIA to limit such modes by suggesting they should come under parc ferme rules, but his Dutch driver doesn't think that would be the right move.

"I feel the same way," Verstappen said of his boss' comments. "But at the same time, one must be honest and understand that Mercedes did the job better than everyone else. Why should they lose their advantage? That would not be fair.

"Otherwise, everyone should just use the same engine, and I don't think anyone wants that."

Switching to practice ahead of Sunday's Bahrain GP, an electrical issue in the first 10 minutes of the daytime session meant he had to watch on from the garage after pushing his car back to the pits, but Max would be satisfied with the recovery made later in the evening.

“For such a short time in the car I managed to find quite a good balance and the long run pace looked pretty positive," he admitted

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“I was also happy with how the tyre degradation looked at the end of that session. Come race day it will depend a lot on strategy, you can follow at this track better than others so with the right planning and a bit of luck you can get a good result.

“Tomorrow we need to fine tune the short run pace in order to put ourselves in contention on Sunday," he added. "I’ll try to improve the feeling and balance to put myself in the best position possible.”

Daniel Ricciardo emerged as the surprise pacesetter for Red Bull in the first practice session ahead of the Bahrain GP on Friday.

As the top teams completed a flying lap on the Soft compound tyre in the final half an hour, it looked as if Valtteri Bottas would take top spot with the two Ferrari's not quite able to maintain a rapid pace in the first sector.

However, the Australian was the last of the leading runners to go out and would post a purple sector en route to a 1m31.060s, three-tenths of a second clear of the Finn in the Mercedes.

As in Melbourne, it was Kimi Raikkonen who led the Scuderia's charge as the eight-time podium finisher at Sakhir finish 0.012s ahead of his German teammate Sebastian Vettel.

World champion Lewis Hamilton would lock his front-left and run wide at Turn 10 on his first flying lap but his second attempt would still leave the Briton 1.2 seconds off the pace of Ricciardo as he complained of a lack of grip.

The pleasing start at one side of the Red Bull garage was not repeated on the other side, however, as an electrical problem caused Max Verstappen to grind to a halt in the first 10 minutes with the mechanics unable to rectify the issue before the end of the session.

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In the heat of a desert afternoon, conditions were far from representative of what they'll have come qualifying and the race on Sunday which meant most teams didn't look at performance and instead continued development work.

That didn't stop Haas from leading the midfield again, however, with Romain Grosjean in sixth but it was Pierre Gasly who featured highly in seventh for Toro Rosso.

Carlos Sainz pipped Renault teammate Nico Hulkenberg into eighth with the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen completing the top 10.

Once again, over a single lap, McLaren didn't look too strong with Fernando Alonso 11th and over two seconds slower than the leading Red Bull, which is the team he has claimed are their target.

Charles Leclerc was one of two drivers to have a half spin at Turn 7 as the gusty wind caught out he and Lance Stroll. The Monegasque was still a respectable 12th for Sauber though, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.

Stroll and Williams teammate Sergey Sirotkin were 14th and 15th followed by Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson but it was the two Force Indias that brought up the times as they focused solely on aero work in their attempt to understand their VJM11 chassis.

Sebastian Vettel is confident Ferrari can find further performance from their SF71-H despite setting a roaring pace in practice at the Bahrain GP.

Though it was teammate Kimi Raikkonen who topped the timesheet, the German was arguably the fastest man on Friday finishing just 0.011s behind as the two Scuderia drivers were the only men to lap under 1m30s.

Vettel's long run to close out the evening session under the lights was particularly impressive though and the four-time world champion was generally satisfied with how his day went.

“[It] looks like we were a bit quicker than the rest but it depends a bit on the programme so at this point I would not jump in any conclusions,” he commented.

“We’re focusing on ourselves, on the set-up mostly and try to get a better feel which at times was good, other times was not yet there."

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• Bahrain GP: Ferrari move to the front as Mercedes toil in Practice 2
• Hamilton hit with five-place grid drop for Bahrain GP

When it has mattered so far this season, it has been Raikkonen that has had the edge over Vettel with the current characteristics of the Ferrari better suiting the Finn's driving style and addressing that has been the 30-year-old's main goal.

"We tried some stuff today, mostly trying to fix the front end because it hasn’t been very strong in Australia and it got a bit better so let’s see where we are tomorrow," he said.

“We can still improve for both short and long runs. I didn’t see what the others did. My long run I think was okay, it should have been a bit stronger but as I said we try different things with the car and the balance.”

Formula 1 bosses have released a statement setting out their vision for the sport from 2021 after a meeting with all teams and the FIA on Friday in Bahrain.

By and large, the vision remains unchanged from that laid out last year, with changes to the financial and sporting regulations and structure, however, a few more details of what is being proposed are coming out.

A budget cap of $150m is believed to be the first main proposal which would cut the expenditure of top teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull by upto $100m in some cases.

What remains unknown is how such a cap would be enforced and the large impact is not likely to go down well, particularly with the top two teams.

Financially, changes to the revenue distribution are to be made based on "meritocracy" and "reward success" but will be done so in a more "balanced" way.

Bonus payments for historical teams will remain, though at least in Ferrari's case rumours are they will see a cut, and support will be offered to engine and car suppliers.

A major area has been potential changes to the engines and here details remain slim with only a vow to make the units simpler, cheaper and noisier with the goal of reducing penalties.

Nothing on the proposal revealed last November has been included but a goal to remain road relevant, attract new manufacturers and accommodate current suppliers is.

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• FIA seek measures to improve overtaking in 2019
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Finally, the cars are to change with the aim of allowing closer racing and a greater number of parts is to be standardised as well as part of the cost reduction effort. 

However, a commitment to ensure each car is individual to each team is mentioned in areas such as aerodynamics, suspensions and engines and increasing the role of the driver in determining performance has been emphasised.

All proposals have been agreed with the FIA and F1 bosses have now put the ball in each team's court as to whether they sign on or pull out, as Ferrari and Mercedes have threatened to do.

“Formula 1 is a sport with a rich history. We want to preserve, protect and enhance that history by unleashing F1s potential, by putting our fans at the heart of a more competitive and more exciting sport," CEO Chase Carey commented.

"We are driven by one desire: to create the world’s leading sporting brand. Fan- centred, commercially successful, profitable for our teams, and with technological innovation at its heart.”

Daniel Ricciardo called on the Formula 1 stewards not to penalise Valtteri Bottas despite the two almost colliding during practice at the Bahrain GP.

The Mercedes driver was unaware of the fast-approaching Australian as he coasted through Turn 4 with the Red Bull driver sweeping around the outside and almost coming together on the exit with mere centimetres between them.

The incident ruined Ricciardo's attempt at a qualifying simulation on the Supersoft tyre and the usually relaxed 'honey badger' fired a furious message over the radio but afterwards, he was more reflective.

“I don’t want Valtteri to get a penalty,” he said. “This is practice and it’s frustrating but I don’t think anyone agreed with my penalty last week and I don’t want to start that game.

“I believe he wasn’t told on the radio, so it’s probably not his fault.”

That wish seems to have been followed as the stewards have not sanctioned the Finn for impeding but it came in what was a more difficult evening in general for Ricciardo, who had set the quickest time in the daytime session.

“Overall it wasn’t a bad day,” he said. “Obviously, this morning was pretty strong but the evening session was not as good; we made some changes that didn’t work as well as we hoped.

“I don’t just want to go back to the Practice 1 car as I think we can still make it better. We can find a happy medium on the balance and the overall feeling is not too bad."

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• Bahrain GP: Ferrari move to the front as Mercedes toil in Practice 2

In fact, the 28-year-old is confident Red Bull can take the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari more strongly than they could two weeks ago in Australia.

“Mercedes will still turn it up in qualifying but we will be closer than where we were tonight," he stated.

“I’m confident that we will have a good car and tomorrow I’m sure we can be better than sixth and hopefully even better again in the race.”

The FIA has called an emergency meeting with all Formula 1 teams for Saturday in Bahrain to seek solutions which will increase overtaking in 2019.

A lack of action at the season-opener two weeks in Australia with just three overtakes after the first lap, has raised concerns that the ever-more complex car designs are making it even harder for drivers to follow closely and attempt a pass.

Max Verstappen went as far as to call the race "worthless" and though the track at Sakhir is more suited to passing, the DRS zone on the main straight has been extended by 100m to try and address the problem.

Now though, the governing body wants concrete steps to be put in place for next year and with any changes needed to be agreed unanimously before April 30, that has led to this hastily arranged gathering.

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According to Motorsport.com two ideas are set to be discussed including increasing the size of the gap in the rear wing when DRS is active and changes to the front wings to try and reduce their sensitivity to the turbulent air from in front.

This comes as Liberty Media will reveal their proposals for 2021 today (Friday) with a new car design developed by managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn with the aim of allowing for closer racing.

Commenting on the topic on Thursday, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen called on the sport's bosses to ignore any advice given by drivers as it cannot be trusted.

"Liberty should just do their own research and not listen to the drivers because the drivers will just say what's in their best interests," said the Dane.

"I enjoy [racing] most when I win. I don't care about the racing - if I win, that's it. All the drivers, their feedback will be in their own best interests. None of us drivers care about making the show better, we want the best for ourselves."

Being F1, nothing is likely to be agreed on Saturday, but with the Chinese race a week later, it does give some time for negotiations and a solution to be put in place. 

Lewis Hamilton's chances of victory at the Bahrain GP have taken a blow as the world champion will take a five-place grid drop for Sunday's race.

The FIA confirmed late on Friday that Mercedes have had to change the gearbox in the Briton's car for this weekend, a part which under the regulations has to complete six race weekends before a free change is allowed.

It was another setback on a difficult day more broadly for Hamilton, who struggled to get a clean lap together in practice and ended the day almost a second off the pace set by Ferrari in fourth.

“It looks very close between all the teams and we definitely have got some work to do to try and see if we can eke out to be ahead of the others,” he commented before the penalty was announced.

“The tyres have felt the best they’ve felt here in years; very stable and with less degradation. The track is great and it’s amazing at night-time,” the 33-year-old added.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff also wasn't too deterred by the pace of Ferrari, who he believes were running quite close to their maximum.

“They were in a pretty high-power mode when they were on the lap, so it isn’t so worrying, but it is a good lap,” the Austrian told Sky Sports. 

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• Bahrain GP: Ferrari move to the front as Mercedes toil in Practice 2

Asked how he could be sure of that, he added: “It’s quite amazing. We have GPS data, so you can follow the traces of every car.

“You can see that when you overlay the data, suddenly on the straights they gain much more time and in the corners, it’s still the same.

“You can see that in detail, so it’s become very transparent for the engineers how much somebody has turned up the power, and how much downforce, and how much drag everyone is running.”

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have offered differing views on how their respective teams stack up in the build-up to the Bahrain GP.

Though it was the Ferrari driver who scored the 25 points in Melbourne two weeks ago, it was pretty clear that the Mercedes remains at the top of the pecking order as highlighted by the world champion's six-tenths advantage in qualifying.

Vettel, however, doesn't think that single lap deficit was a true reflection on the current state of play but did offer an estimate of where he thought the two teams were.

“I think if you look at the pace, testing and first race, it’s pretty clear that Mercedes is fastest, probably with three or four-tenths gap,” Vettel said on Thursday.

“That’s also what we saw in the race. Lewis was controlling his pace in the beginning and then pushed when he had to and he had time in hand.”

Hamilton refuted that suggestion though and even continued to play down the impact of their so-called 'party mode' which offers extra engine power in qualifying.

"I don't have a figure, the team hasn't mentioned a figure to me," he said of his rival's claim.

"They said in qualifying we think that we are power-wise equal to them, they made a really big improvement and that in the race we might have a slight edge on them.

"It's hard to say from one race, they had a different run profile particularly in the race they were doing something different fuelling wise. You'll get a much better idea over the coming races."

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Regardless of the true picture, and where Red Bull feature too, Vettel vows to continue taking the fight to the Silver Arrows with Australia proof of what can happen.

“It’s a no-brainer that we know we’re not quick enough yet and Mercedes at this stage is quick but we go racing, it’s not that we live in simulation land and rely solely on numbers," he said.

Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari 1-2 under the lights as the Scuderia firmly inserted themselves as the team to beat in Practice 2 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Finn was able to extract the most from his Supersoft tyres during the qualifying simulation with his 1m29.817s just 0.011s clear of teammate Sebastian Vettel, who couldn't maintain a strong initial pace across the three sectors.

Both Ferraris were the only cars sub 90 seconds though, with Valtteri Bottas half a second back in third in the lead Mercedes while Lewis Hamilton made an error on his first attempted flying lap and would finish all-but a second down in fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo also had to complete a second flying lap on the Supersofts in fifth after almost colliding with Bottas at Turn 4 during his first effort with the Finn unaware of the fast-approaching Red Bull.

Max Verstappen was playing catch up after missing the morning session due to an electric problem and it was a case of the Dutchman simply struggling to get his tyres into the right window as he sat down in sixth.

To end the session all teams completed a race simulation with Ferrari again looking superior albeit the gaps were much smaller. There was a problem for Raikkonen though, as the 'Iceman' was forced to pull over due to a loose wheel after a practice pitstop.

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• Bahrain GP: Ricciardo sets surprise early pace in Practice 1

Delving into a very competitive midfield where 1.2 seconds covered Nico Hulkenberg in seventh for Renault down to Sergey Sirotkin in 18th for Williams.

One of the surprise names featuring in the top 10 was Pierre Gasly in the Honda-powered Toro Rosso in eighth with the Frenchman a whopping 1.6 seconds faster than teammate Brendon Hartley who was slowest overall.

The two McLarens completed the would be Q3 positions in qualifying as Haas slipped down the order with Romain Grosjean P11 and Kevin Magnussen only P15.

Both Force Indias made some progress in 13th and 14th as Charles Leclerc impressed in 16th, leading the two Williams and three-tenths clear of teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he will be one of the drivers looking at the proposals laid out by Liberty Media for 2021 and beyond on Friday as he considers his future in Formula 1.

Despite yet more claims by Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff that a new deal beyond this year is "as good as done", the four-time world champion appears in no rush to put pen to paper just yet.

Indeed, he told the media on Thursday that talks were only taking place "when we want to" and that the future direction is important to him.

“It’s quite an interesting time in F1,” Hamilton claimed. “Obviously we’ve got tomorrow potentially some sort of announcement, discussions of what’s happening in F1 moving forward.

“It’s always good to wait to hear some of those and see the future of F1 and for sure that could or could not have an impact on decisions we make in terms of length or whatever we end up doing in F1.”

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• Hamilton & Mercedes "committed" to future yet new deal remains unsigned

Though the Briton did not go as far as saying if a next contract would be his last in F1, he does concede determining the length of it is one of his main considerations.

“The next contract is probably the most important one of my career, this decision I make. The last contract was the most important up to that point and the next one will be even more important than the last one," he stated.

“So the length, your decision how long you want to commit to being in F1 is becoming more and more important I think for me, being that I’m at the latter end of my career.”