Verstappen edges Leclerc to top second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen led the second free practice session of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

Charles Leclerc finished in second position, just 0.087 seconds slower than the Dutchman. Team-mate Carlos Sainz finished in third position at the end of the session.

The second free practice session of the opening race at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir started with air temperatures at 17 degrees C and track temperatures at 22 degrees C. The conditions were chilly and the session was at a time more representative of the qualification session and race.

Most of the drivers came out on the medium compound tyres. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers set the early place with Leclerc at the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m33.121s.

Verstappen was out on the track ten minutes into the session. Verstappen slotted into second position with his first effort with a lap time of 1m33.621s .

Valtteri Bottas moved into fourth position after missing out on most of the first practice session.

After twenty-five minutes of the session, the drivers switched to the soft compound tyres. Nico Hulkenberg continued his impressive return as the super substitute as he slotted into fifth position on the first run on the soft tyres.

Fernando Alonso went fastest with a lap time of 1m32.877s. But Leclerc soon displaced the Spaniard from the top with a 1m32.263s lap.

Verstappen then went quickest with a lap of 1m31.936s, 0.327 seconds faster than Leclerc. But Leclerc with his second effort closed the gap to just 0.087 seconds to Verstappen.

Sainz then slotted into third position with a 1m32.520s lap. The two Scuderia Ferrari drivers continued the impressive form of the Italian team.

George Russell slotted into fourth position, 0.593 seconds slower than Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton complained about his front brakes and only managed ninth position.

Alonso finished in fifth position even as Esteban Ocon finished in twelfth position. Bottas finished in sixth position, 1.015 seconds slower than the fastest lap.

Sergio Pérez finished in seventh position and seemed well off Verstappen’s pace. Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen finished in eighth and tenth position for the Haas F1 team. This was a vast improvement in performance after languishing at the bottom of the time charts in first practice.

Lando Norris was in eleventh position even as his McLaren F1 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished in eighteenth position. Ricciardo’s session was cut short due to reliability issues.

The fastest man in first free practice Pierre Gasly had to be content with thirteenth position as the pace disappeared in the cooler conditions. Scuderia AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was in fourteenth position.

Zhou Guanyu could only manage fifteenth position ahead of Lance Stroll. Nico Hulkenberg was in seventeenth position as the Aston Martin Racing team lost performance in the cooler conditions.

The two Williams Racing team drivers, Nicholas Latifi and Alexander Albon, finished last on the time charts.

The Red Bull Racing team and Verstappen seem to have more performance in hand after Friday free practice. Ferrari look to be their main challengers led by Leclerc.

2022 Bahrain Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Results: