F1 Bahrain GP: Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2, Verstappen sixth in second practice

The Briton set the early benchmark in the session on soft tyres and subsequently cranked up the dial with a 1m30.374s to put distance between himself and the rest of the field.

Russell slotted in behind to sit second, despite enduring a difficult opening to the session and could not match the first lap Hamilton had set as he lacked traction in the opening sector.

On a different run after taking another set of soft tyres, Russell moved up the order to set a 1m30.580s and move ahead of then-runner-up Carlos Sainz, who was subsequently displaced by a lap from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest thanks to his session-best middle sector, which ensured Verstappen could only end the session in sixth - just 0.477s off Hamilton's best.

As the second practice session was at 6pm, at the same time of day that Saturday's race will take place, the conditions were more representative of those expected in the key sessions across the rest of the weekend.

That said, temperatures were uncharacteristically low at an ambient 17.2 degrees celsius, with a crosswind across the straight.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24 (Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

The field was split on the opening runs between the medium and soft compounds, and the traditional frontrunners opted for the red-walled Pirelli rubber to kick off their sessions.

Sainz was first to take the times into the 1m31s, but was swiftly beaten by Sergio Perez's 1m31.629s amid the early flurry of times.

Charles Leclerc then posted a 1m31.578s to go top, but this was comprehensively beaten by Hamilton's opening gambit: a 1m30.751s. Alonso then split the top two with a 1m31.035s.

Max Verstappen's opening lap was half a second away from Hamilton's benchmark and, although he later improved on the same set of tyres, he could not make any concerted inroads into the seven-time champion's time.

Verstappen's ultimate best, a 1m30.851, would not have been enough to beat Hamilton's initial soft-tyre time.

These soft-tyre laps rounded out the first half-hour, with the second dedicated towards longer runs in preparation for the race - a vital component of the teams' preparation given that FP3 will not be a representative session.

The order was set with no further improvements,, and Nico Hulkenberg had fired his Haas into seventh place with a time just 0.03s shy of Verstappen, and 0.007s clear of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.

Leclerc and Perez completed the top 10, ahead of Alex Albon, who only did one hot lap on a fresh soft tyre having circulated at the start on a set of mediums.

He had been joined among the middle of the order by team-mate Logan Sargeant, but FP1 headliner Daniel Ricciardo split the two Williams drivers.

Lando Norris sat at the bottom of the timing boards having abandoned his initial soft-tyre lap, and further difficulties prompted him to ask for a steering wheel switch for the remainder of the session.

Bahrain GP FP2 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	25	1'30.374		215.584
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	23	+0.206 1'30.580	0.206	215.093
3	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	+0.286 1'30.660	0.080	214.904
4	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.395 1'30.769	0.109	214.645
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	27	+0.410 1'30.784	0.015	214.610
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	25	+0.477 1'30.851	0.067	214.452
7	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	23	+0.510 1'30.884	0.033	214.374
8	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	26	+0.517 1'30.891	0.007	214.357
9	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.739 1'31.113	0.222	213.835
10	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	26	+0.741 1'31.115	0.002	213.830
11	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	26	+0.959 1'31.333	0.218	213.320
12	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	26	+1.142 1'31.516	0.183	212.893
13	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	27	+1.341 1'31.715	0.199	212.431
14	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.390 1'31.764	0.049	212.318
15	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	29	+1.507 1'31.881	0.117	212.048
16	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	25	+1.577 1'31.951	0.070	211.886
17	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	24	+1.627 1'32.001	0.050	211.771
18	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	25	+1.653 1'32.027	0.026	211.711
19	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	28	+1.674 1'32.048	0.021	211.663
20	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+2.234 1'32.608	0.560	210.383
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