Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two in FP2 as Mercedes botch soft-tyre runs at Sepang

Charles Leclerc topped second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang on Friday, posting a 1m37.528s to finish 0.099 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, with Lando Norris third. The session marked the first time Formula 1 has raced at the Malaysian circuit since 2017, with Sepang standing in as a temporary host for Bahrain.

A forecast that put the chance of rain as high as 90% — despite a dry opening session — triggered an unusually frantic start to FP2. All 22 drivers headed out early, and teams moved to soft tyres after just 20 minutes rather than waiting for the traditional late-session push, anxious to bank meaningful lap times on a track where data is scarce.

Leclerc, who had been only third in the medium-tyre phase behind Max Verstappen and Russell, vaulted to the top once the softs went on. Norris, who had finished a disappointing 12th in FP1 after adjusting his McLaren’s set-up to better match Oscar Piastri’s baseline, slotted in second before Hadjar split the pair with a 1m37.627s to claim second overall.

The session’s defining subplot was the struggles of both Mercedes drivers. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli each made errors through the final sector on their soft-tyre laps, leaving them seventh and eighth respectively — a significant gap behind the leading trio. Russell had been second in FP1, so the regression will be a concern for the Silver Arrows heading into qualifying.

Verstappen, the FP1 pacesetter, remained on the medium compound for his quickest effort and ended up outside the top five, while Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Ferrari on the same rubber.

With lap times frozen for the second half of the hour-long session as drivers switched to race simulations on older tyres, the most animated moment came when Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto went wheel-to-wheel through three consecutive sectors. Bortoleto’s Audi passed Lawson around the outside of Turn 1, only for Lawson to reclaim the position on the following lap.