Lewis Hamilton, who appeared more at ease in the W15 than George Russell, led Mercedes to a surprise 1-2 in the second practice session for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in the second practice session for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix while reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen finished over half a second behind the pace and outside the top five once more.
The temperatures in Free Practice 2, which was held under more typical conditions for qualifying on Friday and the race on Saturday, were still cooler than those in First Practice.
This might have contributed to the gap between the Red Bull, which had trouble with warm-up last year, and the Mercedes, which was setting the pace in 2023. Nevertheless, Hamilton was the clear winner on both of his qualifying simulation laps.
The seven-time world champion set the fastest time with a 1m30.174s which gave him a two-tenth margin over team-mate George Russell, who had been a second off after the initial runs.
The closest rival to Hamilton in the opening runs, Fernando Alonso, finished third with 0.286 seconds off the time benchmark. The Aston Martin driver did not set a personal best in the final sector after losing 0.215s in the first sector of his lap.
Carlos Sainz turned out to be the fastest Ferrari driver in fourth place, finishing four-tenths slower, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Verstappen was about 0.5 seconds off on his first attempt using soft tyres and finished 0.477 seconds behind on his second attempt. However, the long-run simulations in which all teams ran soft rubber, appeared to be much more encouraging for both Verstappen and Red Bull.
Sergio Perez got off to the fastest start in the Red Bull during the long laps while Piastri’s run on soft tyres in the McLaren was impressive. The two teams were the only ones able try the medium tyre for a short spell before the end of the session.
Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprise seventh, as his time less than a tenth behind Verstappen suggests the Red Bull has more to offer.Meanwhile, Lance Stroll finished eighth, coming in over half a second behind Hamilton and with a significant lead over Charles Leclerc in ninth. Perez rounded out the top ten.
RB was unable to match their incredible speed from the first practice, where they finished first and fourth. Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest Racing Bull in 12th place, over a second behind Hamilton.
2024 Bahrain Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.374 | 25 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.580 | +0.206s | 23 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:30.660 | +0.286s | 22 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:30.769 | +0.395s | 25 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:30.784 | +0.410s | 27 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:30.851 | +0.477s | 25 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:30.884 | +0.510s | 23 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:30.891 | +0.517s | 26 |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.113 | +0.739s | 26 |
| 10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:31.115 | +0.741s | 26 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.333 | +0.959s | 26 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Rb Honda Rbpt | 1:31.516 | +1.142s | 26 |
| 13 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.715 | +1.341s | 27 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.764 | +1.390s | 27 |
| 15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Rb Honda Rbpt | 1:31.881 | +1.507s | 29 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:31.951 | +1.577s | 25 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.001 | +1.627s | 24 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:32.027 | +1.653s | 25 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.048 | +1.674s | 28 |
| 20 | 4 | Lando Norris | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:32.608 | +2.234s | 25 |
