F1 Bahrain GP: McLaren fastest again as Piastri tops Norris in FP2

Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris to top a McLaren 1-2 in Formula 1's second practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Piastri's qualifying simulation halfway through the one-hour night-time session was enough to usurp his team-mate by a tenth and a half as the pair comfortably cleared third-placed George Russell.

Following a sweltering first practice in broad daylight which distorted the picture, temperatures had gradually dropped to more representative levels as the night set over the Arabian desert.

Early excitement was provided by Fernando Alonso, who had to re-attach his Aston Martin steering wheel mid-run and was forced to pit in order to replace it.

Meanwhile, Russell led the early running before lap times took a tumble around the halfway point when most drivers embarked on single-lap runs.

After a brief appearance at the top of the leaderboard by world champion Max Verstappen, McLaren's title protagonists Norris and Piastri cycled through to the lead, with Piastri's soft-tyre lap of 1m30.505s just 0.154s quicker than the championship leader.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Russell slotted in third, over half a second behind as the Mercedes appeared to be quicker on the straights but lost out to the dominant McLaren in higher downforce areas.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set a 1m31.054s to finish fourth, splitting the two Mercedes cars as rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed fifth.

In sixth Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar followed up a maiden point scoring weekend in Japan with another bright start to the weekend: the young Frenchman heading Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was ninth with Williams' Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda endured a challenging session in the second Red Bull as he settled for 18th, albeit with the team’s penchant of running in lower engine modes on Friday likely distorting the picture.

F1 Bahrain GP - FP2 results

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	29	1'30.505		S	215.272
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.154 1'30.659	0.154	S	214.906
3	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.527 1'31.032	0.373	S	214.025
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	27	+0.540 1'31.045	0.013	S	213.995
5	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.722 1'31.227	0.182	S	213.568
6	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	24	+0.733 1'31.238	0.011	M	213.542
7	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+0.825 1'31.330	0.092	S	213.327
8	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	23	+1.071 1'31.576	0.246	S	212.754
9	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.079 1'31.584	0.008	S	212.735
10	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	28	+1.118 1'31.623	0.039	S	212.645
11	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	29	+1.191 1'31.696	0.073	S	212.476
12	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	27	+1.201 1'31.706	0.010	S	212.452
13	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	25	+1.267 1'31.772	0.066	S	212.300
14	J. Doohan Alpine	7		Alpine	Renault	27	+1.283 1'31.788	0.016	S	212.263
15	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	19	+1.320 1'31.825	0.037	S	212.177
16	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.365 1'31.870	0.045	S	212.073
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	27	+1.442 1'31.947	0.077	S	211.895
18	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	25	+1.519 1'32.024	0.077	S	211.718
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	27	+1.877 1'32.382	0.358	S	210.898
20	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	24	+1.991 1'32.496	0.114	S	210.638
View full results