Charles Leclerc led the second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, setting a 1m37.528s lap to top the timesheets. Despite a 90% rain forecast, the track stayed dry, prompting an early start with all 22 drivers on track. Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, edged out Isack Hadjar of Red Bull by 0.099s, with Lando Norris of McLaren third.
Max Verstappen, who topped FP1, finished fourth, while Lewis Hamilton was fifth. Mercedes struggled, with George Russell seventh and Kimi Antonelli eighth after failing to improve on soft tyres. The session saw unusual early soft-tyre runs due to weather uncertainty, with teams eager to gather data on the rarely used circuit.
Late drama included Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi stopping, triggering a virtual safety car, and a wheel-to-wheel battle between Bortoleto and Liam Lawson. Final positions remained unchanged in the last 30 minutes as drivers focused on race simulations.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing