George Russell’s perfect start continued as he topped the times again in Practice 2 at the Sakhir Grand Prix.
As drivers conducted their first qualifying runs on Bahrain’s ‘Outer Circuit’, the Briton kept it clean and within track limits whereas teammate Valtteri Bottas could not.
The session under the lights began frustratingly for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc’s day was ended early by a power unit issue following kerb strike at Turn 8.
Teammate Sebastian Vettel also had two spins, the first at Turn 2 and then again through Turn 5, narrowly avoiding the slow-moving Haas of Kevin Magnussen as he slides into the gravel.
Both times, the German was able to continue but he struggled for grip throughout in the SF1000, eventually ending FP2 only 16th.
Initially, the pace was set by Max Verstappen on mediums, while Mercedes completed their first run on the hard compound.
But it wasn’t too long before the soft tyre runs began with Sergio Perez going fastest, fractionally ahead of Esteban Ocon
Valtteri Bottas would be the first leading car to switch onto the fastest rubber and went three-tenths clear on a 54.5s, only for his time to be deleted for fractionally exceeding track limits at Turn 8.
Instead, it was George Russell who went fastest on a 54.713s, a time that would be good enough to complete a pair of P1’s on Friday.
Red Bull’s problem was understeer in Practice 2, as Verstappen eventually managed a clean lap to claim second, albeit a tenth back.
Perez and Ocon held on to third and fourth with Alex Albon fifth after also struggling with track limits violations at Turn 8.
AlphaTauri continued their strong performance with Daniil Kvyat sixth and Pierre Gasly ninth.
Lance Stroll was seventh, while Daniel Ricciardo will be slightly mystified to be almost two-tenths behind Renault teammate Ocon in eighth.
McLaren’s tricky day continued as Carlos Sainz was only 10th and Lando Norris 17th after suffering power unit problems.
Bottas’ problems on his soft tyre run left him 11th, while his woes at Turn 8 continued for the rest of the session, so though the Finn is likely fastest, he just needs to deliver it when it matters.
Kimi Raikkonen led Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in 12th and 13th respectively, as problems for other promoted Magnussen led Nicholas Latifi to 14th and 15th.
In the battle of the rookies, Pietro Fittipaldi continued to lead Jack Aitken, with the Brazilian’s advantage at a tenth and a half.
Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:
