F1 Bahrain GP: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 in FP2

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri headed team-mate Lando Norris to top Formula 1's second practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Piastri's qualifying simulation halfway through the one-hour night-time session was enough to usurp his team-mate by a tenth and a half as the pair comfortably cleared Mercedes man George Russell.

Following a sweltering first practice session in broad daylight which distorted the picture, temperatures had gradually dropped to more representative levels as the night set over the Arabian desert.

Early excitement was provided by Fernando Alonso, who had to re-attach his Aston Martin steering wheel mid-run and was forced to pit in order to replace it. Meanwhile, Russell led the early running before lap times taking a tumble around the halfway point when most drivers embarked on single-lap runs.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images)

After a brief appearance at the top of the leaderboard by world champion Max Verstappen, McLaren's title protagonists Norris and Piastri cycled through to the lead, with Piastri's soft-tyre lap of 1m30.505s just 0.154s quicker than his British team-mate.

Russell slotted in third, over half a second behind as the Mercedes appeared to be quicker on the straights but lost out the dominant McLaren in higher downforce areas. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc's lap of 1m31.054s sufficed for fourth, splitting the two Mercedes cars as Andrea Kimi Antonelli took fifth.

In sixth Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar followed up a maiden point-scoring weekend in Japan with another bright start to the weekend, the young Frenchman heading Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. Haas driver Oliver Bearman was ninth with Williams' Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda endured a challenging session in the second Red Bull as he settled for 18th, albeit with Red Bull's penchant of running in lower engine modes on Friday likely distorting the picture.

F1 Bahrain GP - FP2 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	29	1'30.505		S	215.272
2	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.154 1'30.659	0.154	S	214.906
3	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.527 1'31.032	0.373	S	214.025
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	27	+0.540 1'31.045	0.013	S	213.995
5	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.722 1'31.227	0.182	S	213.568
6	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	24	+0.733 1'31.238	0.011	M	213.542
7	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+0.825 1'31.330	0.092	S	213.327
8	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	23	+1.071 1'31.576	0.246	S	212.754
9	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.079 1'31.584	0.008	S	212.735
10	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	28	+1.118 1'31.623	0.039	S	212.645
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