F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Charles Leclerc tops FP2,…

Charles Leclerc went fastest in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia as the 90% threat of rain didn’t come to fruition during the Formula 1 outing.

The Ferrari driver set a 1m37.528s at Sepang that put him 0.099s quicker than second-placed Isack Hadjar, who finished third in FP1, with Lando Norris completing the top three.

It’s come on the weekend that Sepang has returned to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2017 on behalf of Bahrain and, initially, it looked as though Malaysia’s characteristic on-off conditions would play havoc.

Forecasts first suggested a 70% chance of rain, with that subsequently rising to 90% despite a dry FP1, causing an unusually hectic start to second practice with all 22 drivers out early.

Mediums were the preferred tyre and FP1 pacesetter Max Verstappen was fastest with a 1m37.785s, 0.235s quicker than Mercedes’ George Russell, who was also second in first practice.

Leclerc initially took third and was 0.254s off the pace aboard his SF-26, one spot above Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli (+0.275s) with a five-tenth gap to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in fifth.

But, just like FP1, there were some soft tyre runners during the opening stages, and quickest on the red rubber was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in sixth, 0.892s off Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Usually much of the grid subsequently waits until the closing stages of a practice session to fit softs, but in Sepang FP2 it happened after only 20 minutes due to the threat of rain.

Teams were simply desperate to set semi-representative lap times on a track they have little data of, and the early soft tyre runs saw Leclerc vault to the top with a 1m37.528s.

That put him 0.137s quicker than second-placed Norris, who tweaked the set-up on his McLaren to something more in line with team-mate Oscar Piastri after finishing a disappointing 12th in FP1.

Neither Leclerc nor Norris were particularly near the top in opening practice, but in the second outing they were helped by both Mercedes drivers botching their soft tyre runs in the final sector.

Verstappen also stayed on the medium runner but not team-mate Hadjar, who soon split Leclerc and Norris with a 1m37.627s - the top three completing their laps on fresh rubber.

But then, due to a combination of drivers using old tyres and subsequently completing race simulations, the lap times remained static for the final half of the one-hour session.

The highlight was Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto going wheel to wheel through all three sectors, ending the next lap after the Audi overtook down the inside of Turn 1 before Lawson got back ahead.

(Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT images via Getty Images)

Bortoleto also caused a virtual safety car during the final few minutes after his R26 stopped during the middle sector, thus ending any hopes for late improvements.

So the top three of Leclerc, Hadjar and Norris remained as it was, with Verstappen taking fourth (+0.257s) and Hamilton completing the top five, having set a 1m37.833s in his Ferrari.

Piastri bounced back from a poor FP1, where he finished 11th, with sixth and 0.371s off Leclerc, while Russell (+0.492) and Antonelli (+0.532s) were seventh and eighth after failing to improve on the softs.

Lawson ended up ninth with a 1m38.496s, 0.968s off the pace, while Gasly completed the top 10, having set a 1m38.588s aboard his Alpine.