F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Leclerc tops FP2 with Mercedes seventh and eighth

Charles Leclerc went fastest in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia as the high threat of rain didn’t come to fruition during the Formula 1 outing. 

The Ferrari driver set a 1m37.528s at Sepang that put him 0.099s quicker than second-placed Isack Hadjar, who finished third in FP1, with Lando Norris completing the top three.

It’s come on the weekend that Sepang has returned to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2017 on behalf of Bahrain and initially, it looked as though Malaysia’s characteristic on-off conditions would play havoc.

Forecasts first suggested a 70% chance of rain with that subsequently rising to 90% despite a dry FP1, causing an unusually hectic start to second practice with all 22 drivers out early.

Mediums were the preferred tyre and FP1 pacesetter Max Verstappen was fastest with a 1m37.785s, 0.235s quicker than Mercedes’ George Russell who was also second in first practice.

Leclerc initially took third and was 0.254s off the pace aboard his SF-26, one spot above Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli (+0.275s) with a five tenths gap to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in fifth. 

But, just like FP1, there were some soft tyre runners during the opening stages and quickest on the red rubber was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in sixth, 0.892s off Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Usually much of the grid subsequently waits until the closing stages of a practice session to fit softs, but in Sepang FP2 it happened after only 20 minutes due to the threat of rain.

Teams were simply desperate to set semi-representative lap times on a track they have little data of, and the early soft tyre runs saw Leclerc vault to the top with a 1m37.528s. 

That put him 0.137s quicker than second-placed Norris, who tweaked the set-up on his McLaren to something more in line with team-mate Oscar Piastri after finishing a disappointing 12th in FP1. 

Neither Leclerc nor Norris were particularly near the top in opening practice, but in the second outing they were helped by both Mercedes drivers botching their soft tyre runs in the final sector.

Verstappen also stayed on the medium runner but not team-mate Hadjar, who soon split Leclerc and Norris with a 1m37.627s - the top three completing their laps on fresh rubber. 

But then, due to a combination of drivers using old tyres and subsequently completing race simulations, the lap times remained static for the final half of the one-hour session.

The highlight was Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto going wheel-to-wheel through all three sectors, ending the next lap after the Audi overtook down the inside of Turn 1 before Lawson got back ahead.

Nico Hulkenberg, Audi F1 Team, Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Photo by: Ashwith S Pai

Bortoleto also caused a virtual safety car during the final few minutes after his R26 stopped during the middle sector, thus ending any hopes for late improvements.

So the top three of Leclerc, Hadjar and Norris remained as it was, with Verstappen taking fourth (+0.257s) and Hamilton completing the top five having set a 1m37.833s in his Ferrari.

Piastri bounced back from a poor FP1, where he finished 11th, with sixth and 0.371s off Leclerc, while Russell (+0.492) and Antonelli (+0.532s) were seventh and eighth after failing to improve on the softs.

Lawson ended up ninth with a 1m38.496s, 0.968s off the pace, while Gasly completed the top 10 having set a 1m38.588s aboard his Alpine.

F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia - FP2 results

FP2

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	29	1'37.528		S	204.605
2	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+0.099 1'37.627	0.099	S	204.398
3	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+0.137 1'37.665	0.038	S	204.318
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	20	+0.257 1'37.785	0.120	M	204.068
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	28	+0.305 1'37.833	0.048	S	203.967
6	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.371 1'37.899	0.066	S	203.830
7	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+0.492 1'38.020	0.121	M	203.578
8	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+0.532 1'38.060	0.040	M	203.495
9	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	30	+0.968 1'38.496	0.436	S	202.595
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	29	+1.060 1'38.588	0.092	M	202.405
11	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	33	+1.352 1'38.880	0.292	S	201.808
12	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	25	+1.523 1'39.051	0.171	S	201.459
13	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	30	+1.581 1'39.109	0.058	S	201.341
14	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	29	+1.833 1'39.361	0.252	M	200.831
15	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	28	+1.950 1'39.478	0.117	S	200.595
16	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	30	+2.178 1'39.706	0.228	S	200.136
17	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	31	+2.402 1'39.930	0.224	S	199.687
18	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	26	+2.622 1'40.150	0.220	S	199.249
19	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	27	+2.658 1'40.186	0.036	S	199.177
20	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	30	+2.693 1'40.221	0.035	S	199.107
21	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	28	+3.410 1'40.938	0.717	S	197.693
22	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	31	+5.863 1'43.391	2.453	M	193.003
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