SAKHIR, Bahrain :Oscar Piastri led Formula One-leading teammate Lando Norris in a dominant McLaren one-two in Bahrain Grand Prix second practice on Friday.
Norris had led the first session in the full heat of the afternoon with a time of one minute 33.204 seconds but Australian Piastri bettered that in the cooler evening conditions with a 1:30.505.
That was 0.154 quicker than Norris, who played down the significance of the times and suggested McLaren might not be that much ahead of Mercedes if their rivals had turned down the engine power.
George Russell was third fastest for Mercedes, 0.527 off Piastri’s pace under the floodlights with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli fifth.
“They (McLaren) are a long way ahead in the middle sector, where the tyres are overheating,” said Russell. “A bit of work to do but I think we’re fighting for next best. I think it’s going to be close between us, Ferrari and Max.”
French newcomer Isack Hadjar continued to impress in sixth place for Racing Bulls, with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton seventh and eighth.
“Our race runs were solid, but others seem competitive in all conditions, so we’ll be working hard overnight to close the gap,” said seven times world champion Hamilton.
Red Bull’s four times champion Verstappen, winner in Japan last weekend but complaining about his car’s brakes on Friday, is Norris’s closest rival with one point between them after three races.
“The balance wasn’t too bad, but we were struggling a lot with the grip,” said the Dutch driver. “We had a bit of a different approach to our Friday than our competitors, but the gap is quite big at the moment.”
ALONSO FRIGHT
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso suffered a fright when his car’s steering wheel came off, the double world champion putting it back on and making it to the pits where mechanics were able to fix the problem.
The largely unrepresentative first session, in conditions that will not be replicated in Sunday’s race, was packed with young drivers gaining experience.
Verstappen sat out that session as the team gave Ayumu Iwasa time in the car.
Luke Browning took Carlos Sainz’s Williams, and was 13th fastest, Dino Beganovic (14th) was at the wheel of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Felipe Drugovich (16th) stepped into Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.
Ryo Hirakawa (17th) replaced rookie Oliver Bearman at Haas while Fred Vesti (18th) took George Russell’s Mercedes.
Antonelli was last on the afternoon timesheets after reporting a loss of power early on and returning to the garage for mechanics to work on the car.
Williams’ Alex Albon, fourth fastest, and Browning almost collided on track after a miscommunication while the latter was on a fast lap and the former going slower.
Williams were fined 7,500 euros ($8,490) for the misdemeanour.
($1 = 0.8833 euros)
