FP2: Alonso steals spotlights from Red Bull duo

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuitbh

As the Aston Martin threat seems to become more and more reality, Fernando Alonso ended up faster in second practice at Bahrain. World Champion Max Verstappen was a close second fastest with his Red Bull teammate Perez third.

Second practice at Bahrain is always an important session as it provides cooler conditions compared to first practice and is importantly scheduled at similar times as qualifying and the race. Alonso made perfect use of it and further warned his rivals even though his 1:30.907 is still 6 tenths away from the best time that Perez recorded in pre-season testing one week earlier.

Alonso did two qualifying runs on the soft tyre and headed the session while Verstappen complained about the bumps at Sakhir International Circuit, additionally saying that his RB19 was jumping more than it was in testing.

Behind the top three was Charles Leclerc who was only narrowly faster than Formula One returnee Nico Hulkenberg in his Haas. Lance Stroll ended up 6th as he discovered the AMR23 on his first day in the car. A cycling incident had ruled him out of pre-season testing but a similator test with increased steering forces was satisfactory for the team to let him compete leaving reserve driver Felipe Drugovich sidelined.

The Candian however had to be helped out of the car after the session, raising concerns whether he is ready to compete a full Grand Prix.

While Pierre Gasly showed the first signs of some pace in the Alpine A523 in 7th, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest Mercedes in 8th. As Norris and Zhou Guanyu completed the top ten only Alpha Tauri and Williams were not represented. These two teams filled the final 4 spots of today's ranking, in line with the predicted pecking order from testing.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
114Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:30.90725
21Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda Rbpt1:31.076+0.169s24
311Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing Honda Rbpt1:31.078+0.171s26
416Charles LeclercFerrari1:31.367+0.460s26
527Nico HulkenbergHaas Ferrari1:31.376+0.469s25
618Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:31.450+0.543s28
710Pierre GaslyAlpine Renault1:31.475+0.568s24
844Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:31.543+0.636s27
94Lando NorrisMclaren Mercedes1:31.570+0.663s27
1024Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:31.586+0.679s27
1131Esteban OconAlpine Renault1:31.608+0.701s25
1277Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:31.793+0.886s28
1363George RussellMercedes1:31.882+0.975s25
1455Carlos SainzFerrari1:31.956+1.049s28
1581Oscar PiastriMclaren Mercedes1:32.024+1.117s27
1620Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:32.110+1.203s18
1723Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes1:32.440+1.533s28
1822Yuki TsunodaAlphatauri Honda Rbpt1:32.525+1.618s27
1921Nyck De VriesAlphatauri Honda Rbpt1:32.605+1.698s28
202Logan SargeantWilliams Mercedes1:32.749+1.842s29