@Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets in #BahrainGP FP2 ahead of @ScuderiaFerrari pairing. #F1

Verstappen Bahrain GP FP2 – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen topped the FP2 session at the Bahrain GP for Red Bull Racing ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz who completed the top three.

 

 

Verstappen posted a 1:31.936 benchmark on the C3 red side-walled softer compounds and was 0.087 seconds quicker than Leclerc with Sainz a further 0.584 seconds behind the Dutchman in third.

 

Mercedes pairing George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ended the second practice session in fourth and ninth places respectively.

 

In the only representative practice session to both qualifying and the Grand Prix, given it’s evening setting, the field were greeted with a cool 17 degree temperature, with a strong headwind blowing down the pit-straight at the Bahrain International Circuit.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen was the first driver to emerge, running on the yellow C2 Pirelli medium tyre, which all drivers except McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo used for their initial FP2 tours.

 

Magnussen set the early pace of a 1:34.572, which was soon beaten by Ferrari’s Sainz as the Spaniard followed the Dane during the early stage.

 

But Leclerc, running behind his Ferrari team-mate, posted a 1:33.121, which stood as the sessions best effort until nearly the opening 30 minutes of Free Practice Two.

 

Hamilton and the Red Bull pairing were the last drivers to emerge on the mediums, with the Briton having to wait in the garage as his team finalised last-minute changes to the setup of his W13 racer, which included switching him to the same floor specification at team-mate Russell used in the earlier FP1 session.

 

Hamilton complained of his car “still bouncing a-lot” even with that switch and the Mercedes driver also suffered a lock-up on his opening flyer on the mediums, which sent him deep and almost off the circuit at the end of turn one.

 

The Briton hung down field at this stage, whilst the Red Bull duo – with Sergio Perez only joining the track after the opening 15 minutes were complete – the Mexican was over half a second off of Leclerc’s benchmark during the medium compound running.

 

After the 20 minute mark, the switch to the softer rubber for qualifying simulation runs were made, lead by Aston Martin’s Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll.

 

They moved up the order as a result, but could not match Leclerc’s solid pace on the C2 yellow-marked mediums – with the Ferrari driver’s effort beaten by BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso on the softer rubber with a 1:32.877 after the 26 minute mark.

 

Sainz’s initial flying tour on the softs got him ahead of Leclerc’s medium tyre benchmark, but only just as the Spaniard lost time in sector three.

 

With his first stint on the softs a minute after Alonso’s effort was registered, Leclerc flew back to the top setting a 1:32.263, which featured purples in all three sectors.

 

Perez lead Red Bull’s stint on the softs as the opening 30 minutes ended – but the Mexican ended up 0.6 seconds adrift of Leclerc due to a slow sector two.

 

Inside the second half of the hour-long session, Verstappen went for his qualifying simulation hot-lap and beat Leclerc in the sector one.

 

The Dutchman shipped a touch in the second sector, but recovered enough time in the final sector to go fastest on 1:31.936, which stood as FP2’s best time to the end.

 

A few moments later, Leclerc went for a second flyer on the softs and with a strong sector three, although a slower middle sector than his personal best effort, he came close to matching the Red Bull driver’s time.

 

Before that, the Mercedes pairing posted their best times on the softs, with Russell leading the way, but 0.593 seconds slower than Verstappen.

 

Hamilton had to abort his initial flying tour on the softs after suffering a lock-up again at turn one and running deep, the seven-time world champion reported a “problem with the front brakes” that were “pulling” on his front-right corner, with Mercedes also stating the Briton was also losing out due to a malfunctioning DRS.

 

Hamilton’s soft tyre effort was 1:33.144, which was the ninth quickest time, wounding up 1.208 seconds adrift of Verstappen’s Bahrain GP FP2 benchmark.

 

The aforementioned Sainz ended the day third as he was given another shot on the softs in the earlier stages of the session’s final quarter, where the field switched to long race-run data gathering.

 

The Spaniard ended up 0.584 off of Verstappen’s effort, but in-front of Russell and Alonso who were fourth and fifth places respectively.

 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Valtteri Bottas recovered from his misfire in FP1 to finish sixth and ahead of Red Bull’s Perez who took seventh and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher who was eighth.

 

The other VF-22 Haas entry of Magnussen completed the top ten behind the aforementioned Hamilton.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris ended FP2 in 11th place, in-front of BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon who came 12th in the order.

 

FP1 session topper Pierre Gasly was 13th on the time-sheets and ahead of AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who finished the second practice session 14th. The latter also made contact with Stroll at the entry to turn eight during the closing stages of FP2.

 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou Guanyu ended the day 15th quickest and in-front of Aston Martin pairing Stroll and Hulkenberg who were 16th and 17th respectively.

 

McLaren’s Ricciardo was a low 18th and ahead of William Racing pairing Nicholas Latifi and Alexander Albon who brought up the rear.

 

You can see the full Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2022 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1124/bahrain/practice-2.html

 

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You can catch up on the earlier Free Practice 1 session plus this weekend’s race and 2022 season combined preview at the links below:

 

@PierreGASLY heads @ScuderiaFerrari duo in #BahrainGP FP1. #F1

#Formula1 Gulf Air #BahrainGP and 2022 Season Preview. #F1