Nico Rosberg fears the threat from Ferrari in this weekend 's Bahrain Grand Prix , describing their pace as 'dangerous ' and 'worrying ' . Following Friday practice , in particular the evening session under the lights at the Bahrain International Circuit , Mercedes appeared comfortable . Rosberg topped the timesheet with a lap of one minute 34.647secs , finishing 0.115secs quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton after the reigning champion locked up in the second sector , costing him four tenths of a second . Nico Rosberg has admitted he 's wary of the threat rivals Ferrari pose ahead of Sunday 's Bahrain Grand Prix . The Mercedes driver was complimentary of Ferrari and described their pace as 'dangerous ' and 'worrying ' Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished third and fourth quickest , just over half a second adrift of Rosberg . Yet the 29-year-old German , who trails Hamilton by 17 points in the drivers ' standings , is deeply concerned by Ferrari from what he witnessed over the course of the two 90-minute sessions . 'We are very quick on one lap again , and Ferrari are very dangerous on the long run , ' said Rosberg . 'They have serious pace , which is very worrying . It looks like they are a genuine threat . 'In qualifying we are much quicker , but in the race they are quick . 'Tyre wise , it is pretty straightforward , with both tyres ( the soft and medium-compound Pirellis ) quite robust . It is just the absolute pace which is important . ' Rosberg ( left ) trails team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 17 points in the drivers ' standings ahead of Sunday 's race . Barring mistakes it appears another Mercedes front-row lock-out is likely , with the Ferrari 's occupying the second row , and from there a battle with strategy and pace . Hamilton has also expressed concerns about Ferrari as he said : 'They are going to be very close . They look very good , from what I can see , in the long run . 'The crucial part is we know we have speed in a qualifying lap , so it 's more the speed on the race runs . 'That 's an area we 're really trying to work on , but other than that the car has been feeling very good , I 'm really happy with it . ' But the 29-year-old topped the timesheet with a lap of one minute 34.647secs during Friday practice . Vettel , 13 points adrift of Hamilton , endured a disruptive day as a loss of power compromised FP1 , whilst a collision with Sergio Perez in his Force India hampered FP2 . McLaren 's Jenson Button also suffered a wretched day with technical issues in both sessions , resulting in a lack of running that left him down in 19th position , 4.5 seconds behind Rosberg and sandwiched between Manor duo Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi . Saturday could be problematic for all , though , as a sandstorm has been forecast to hit the area at some point during the day .
Nico Rosberg described Mercedes 's pace as 'dangerous ' and 'worrying ' The Ferrari driver is preparing for Sunday 's Bahrain Grand Prix . Rosberg was faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton during Friday practice .