Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Alonso dominates, Lance Stroll struggles
Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time in the second practice session, with the Red Bulls completing the podium. As for Lance Stroll, he seemed to struggle due to his injured wrist.
It was during the night that this second free practice session took place, a test that is more representative of what awaits us in the future, since it is under these conditions that the qualifying session and the race will take place.
The preseason testing dynamics continue.
The not-so-surprising surprise is called Fernando Alonso, who set the best time this afternoon in 1:30.907. This illustrates the good progress made by Aston Martin during the off-season on a car that could possibly compete for a podium finish, or even the championship. However, we did notice some minor reliability issues with the carbon parts.
Red Bull once again dominated everyone by setting the second and third fastest times.
Max Verstappen has suffered less from understeer, the problem mentioned by Helmut Marko this morning appears to be resolved.
Alpine has improved its performance compared to this morning. Mercedes, on the other hand, still struggles a little and continues to work on evolving the car.
Finally, the incident that occurred on the pit lane between Norris and De Vries will be investigated by the FIA during this session.
Struggling stroll
Lance Stroll seemed very uncomfortable with his broken wrist. We can even doubt his participation in the race on Sunday.
Meet tomorrow at 12:05 on Canal+ for the third and final practice session. The qualifications will be available to watch from 15:40.
Free practice 2 classification
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:30.907 | 25 | |
| 2 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:31.076 | +0.169 | 24 |
| 3 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:31.078 | +0.171 | 26 |
| 4 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:31.367 | +0.460 | 26 |
| 5 | Hülkenberg | Haas F1 Team | 1:31.376 | +0.469 | 25 |
| 6 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:31.450 | +0.543 | 28 |
| 7 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:31.475 | +0.568 | 24 |
| 8 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:31.543 | +0.636 | 27 |
| 9 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:31.570 | +0.663 | 27 |
| 10 | Guanyu | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | 1:31.586 | +0.679 | 27 |
| 11 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:31.608 | +0.701 | 25 |
| 12 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | 1:31.793 | +0.886 | 28 |
| 13 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:31.882 | +0.975 | 25 |
| 14 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:31.956 | +1.049 | 28 |
| 15 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:32.024 | +1.117 | 27 |
| 16 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:32.110 | +1.203 | 18 |
| 17 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:32.440 | +1.533 | 28 |
| 18 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:32.525 | +1.618 | 27 |
| 19 | De Vries | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:32.605 | +1.698 | 28 |
| 20 | Sargeant | Williams Racing | 1:32.749 | +1.842 | 29 |
