Formula 1 Bahrain GP
F1 Bahrain GP: Hamilton heads Mercedes 1-2 in second practice
Lewis Hamilton headlined Formula 1's second practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix over Mercedes team-mate George Russell, as reigning champion Max Verstappen was sixth fastest.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Feb 29, 2024, 11:10 PM
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Hamilton 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 another 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 C, with a crosswind across the straight.
The field was split on the opening runs between the medium and soft compounds, and the traditional front-runners 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.
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.
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
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4
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 View full results
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