AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - MAY 30: Marco Rojas of New Zealand during the International Friendly match between the New Zealand All Whites and South Africa at Mt Smart Stadium on May 30, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

It was a scorching start to the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday where temperatures ran as high as they have ever been encountered in Formula One during the afternoon FP1 session, but thankfully the thermometer dropped a little for the evening FP2 session.

For Renault driver, Nico Hulkenberg, the day ended with a 1:31.883, the sixth fastest time of FP2 after he worked on a more extensive program with Pirelli's soft and supersoft tyres with no issues at all.

"That was a pretty straightforward Friday aside from doing less in FP1 because of the extreme heat," Nico said. "Everything was more together with the car and how it felt on track this evening compared to the afternoon so we can look forward to tomorrow and Sunday. The car felt pretty decent today, but of course there's always room for improvement ahead of qualifying.”

Bahrain presents a unique challenge by having FP1 and FP3 in hotter conditions than teams will see in the race or qualifying, meaning the cooler FP2 is more valuable for track time.