Second Free Practice Results 2023 Bahrain F1 GP

F1 Race Event: Bahrain Grand Prix
Race Track: Bahrain International Circuit

A view of Max Verstappen in the garage during practice ahead of the 2023 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain

Weather: dry  23.2°C
Tarmac: dry  27.5°C
Humidity : 21.0%
Wind : 6 km/h N
Pressure: 1018.5 bar

The Bahrain Grand Prix got underway today with the second practice session of the weekend. With the teams and drivers eager to get a sense of their pace ahead of Sunday's race, there was plenty of action on the track.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz wasted no time in donning soft tires and blasting out of the pits. Leclerc set the early pace with a time of 1:31.843, with Sainz just 0.113 seconds behind. Lewis Hamilton also opted for the soft tires and was third fastest, 0.429 seconds behind Sainz.

Defending champion Max Verstappen struggled to find his rhythm on the medium tires and was only able to manage the 10th fastest time, 0.951 seconds off the pace. However, his teammate Sergio Pérez fared better, finishing in sixth place, just 0.654 seconds slower than Leclerc.

There were a few incidents on track as well, with Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda having a bit of a moment at turn 1. The McLaren driver pulled out to overtake the AlphaTauri, but was slowed down by the very slow-moving Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

As the session progressed, the drivers began to focus on long runs to simulate race pace and learn more about tire degradation. However, there were still plenty of fast laps being set, with Stroll eventually putting in a quick lap that was almost 0.4 seconds quicker than Leclerc.

A few minutes later, several drivers opted for the same strategy, with Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg going quickest at first, followed by Pérez, Leclerc, and Alonso, who set the P1 time to 1:30.907, more than half a second quicker than his Aston Martin teammate Stroll. Verstappen put in a late charge, but fell short by just 0.169 seconds.

Halfway the session all the top 10 times were seton the Soft compound tyres and the order was: 1. Alonso (1:30.907), 2. Verstappen (+0.169s), 3. Pérez (+0.171s), 4. Leclerc (+0.460s), 5. Hulkenberg (+0.469s), 6. Stroll (+0.543s), 7. Gasly (+0.568s), 8. Hamilton (+0.636s), 9. Norris (+0.663s), 10. Zhou (+0.679s). It's been a long time since the top 10 was between 0.7 seconds.

Overall, it was a productive session for the teams and drivers, who will be looking to build on their performance in the second free practice session later today.

1:31.936 min was the fastest lap time of last years FP2 in Bahrain and was clocked by Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB18.

FP2 Times Table 2023 Bahrain GP

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