NEWS
Leclerc Snags Top Spot in FP2
The Monegasque driver was fastest in the second practice session. However, the Mercedes drivers likely haven't shown their full hand yet.
Charles Leclerc is the fastest driver in the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia!
The Ferrari driver narrowly prevailed in a very tight field, just ahead of Isack Hadjar (+0.099) and Lando Norris (+0.137). Max Verstappen finished fourth, although he set his fastest time on medium tyres compared to the top three.
In the first practice session a few hours earlier, the Dutchman was by far the fastest driver on the Sepang circuit (Read more here >>>).
Behind Verstappen in the second practice session were Lewis Hamilton (5th), Oscar Piastri (6th), and the two Mercedes drivers George Russell (7th) and championship leader Kimi Antonelli (8th), who were also on the medium compound.
Replacement for Bahrain
To what extent the major upgrade package for the Mercedes will bring improvements remains to be seen. Sunday's race at the circuit near Kuala Lumpur was retrospectively added to the calendar.
The race will officially be held for the Bahrain Grand Prix, after the races there and in Saudi Arabia in April were cancelled due to the Iran war. From 1999 to 2017, Malaysia had been a permanent fixture on the racing calendar of motorsport's premier class.
The third free practice session on Saturday begins at 6:30 AM. Qualifying starts at 10 AM CET. The race on Sunday is from 9 AM. All sessions are available here in the LIVE ticker >>>
