* It's close - very, very close between Mercedes and Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton may have enjoyed a relatively comfortable advantage in Practice One but Ferrari were back with a vengeance a few hours later.
The top four were split by a mere tenth of a second in P2, with Kimi Raikkonen Hamilton's closest challenger, just 0.007s adrift. That gap, or lack of it, hints at another cracker of a grand prix. Yes, please.
* Sebastian Vettel was at the back of that four-car battle, but the winner of 2018's two races is primed to attack and seems confident - claiming: "It is difficult to find the sweet spot but if you do then you can unleash the pace. I think the car has the pace but we need to make sure we get it to work."
* But can Red Bull make it a three-way fight? Not quite in qualifying, on this evidence, with Max Verstappen three tenths off Hamilton's benchmark in Friday's second session.
But it is a different story when it comes to the race pace, however. The top six's average long-run times were separated by just two tenths. "They were very positive," admitted Verstappen.
"Ferrari are still quite quick and Red Bull were really quick on the long run," added Hamilton. "It's good to see all the times so close."
* Get ready for another extremely tight midfield battle. Perhaps it is Renault leading the race for fourth-quickest car - Carlos Sainz was eighth in P1 and Nico Hulkenberg was sixth in P2 - but you could make arguments for many teams.
* That's true for McLaren, although Fernando Alonso's 12th in P1 and 10th in P2 suggests their package still isn't quite up to scratch yet. And it wasn't plain sailing in the pits, either...
* Another race weekend, more pit-stop drama. This time at McLaren as Stoffel Vandoorne ground to a halt on his out-lap due to a loose right rear tyre. This is the fifth unsafe release in three F1 2018 events but, unlike in Haas and Ferrari's malfunctions, the McLaren mechanics were adamant there was no problem as Vandoorne left the pits.
"They are somewhat mystified to how it happened," reported Sky F1's Ted Kravitz. "McLaren don't take chances. The right rear gun man is absolutely convinced he did it up, and to confirm that he pressed the button."
* This happened just hours after Ferrari revealed the reasons behind their botched pit-stop in Bahrain, with team principal Maurizio Arrivabene also confirming they were working with the FIA to prevent the dramatic and dangerous incident happening again. There was plenty of pit-stop practice taking place on Friday.
* Williams look set for another back-marker battle with Sauber. Lance Stroll was disappointingly flat last in both practice sessions, and the team are still crying out for upgrades - which won't come until next month's Spanish GP.
* Hamilton and Verstappen may have shaken hands and moved on from their Bahrain GP collision, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner confirmed to Sky F1 that he has spoken to his young driver about the need for a clean weekend.
While he put no blame on Verstappen's shoulders, insisting that's the sort of risk-reward nature he loves about the Dutchman, Horner said there was need for a "good chat" to ensure Red Bull capitalise on their race pace.
* After that conversation, the last thing Horner would have wanted to see was Verstappen spinning onto the gravel in Practice One. Max narrowly avoided a collision with the barriers at the final corner - but he wasn't the only one to lose control in the blustery conditions. Hamilton span out at Turn 11, while Vandoorne could have easily had a nasty shunt in his McLaren after running straight on at Turn 10. Turn Eight was then the scene of a Stroll spin in Practice Two.
* It wasn't just the Ferrari pit stops up for discussion in the team principals' press conference, with F1's future also the focus of many questions as Arrivabene, Bob Fernley and Franz Tost addressed the media. Tost even claimed that Toro Rosso were in their "best ever" position in F1 due to their Honda engine partnership.