Max quickest after Friday practice in Bahrain

Published on 18 March 2022 by Stefan Meens

After P5 in the opening practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was quickest in FP2, lapping the Bahrain International Circuit faster than second placed Charles Leclerc. The latter’s Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, completed the top three. Max’ Oracle Red Bull Racing colleague, Sergio Perez, finished Friday practice in seventh place.

“We had a good day. We tried some things and it worked well, so I’m pleased with that”, said Max after second practice. “Both the short and long runs went well, so that’s positive. But you can see that Ferrari are fast.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of the weekend, Max concluded: “We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings when the engines are turned up. I don’t think anyone has used their qualifying settings yet.”

The second practice session is held under the flood lights, with temperatures having dropped to 18 degrees Celsius. FP2 is the session in which the conditions will most resemble those in qualifying and the race, so the teams are eager to hit the track when the pitlane opens.

As the majority of the drivers get their first laps in, fans have to wait a further ten minutes until Max steers his RB18 out of his garage. Teammate Perez is the last to take to the track after fifteen minutes.

Twenty minutes in, several teams start their qualifying simulations with Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Leclerc being the early pace setters.

At the halfway mark, both Red Bulls get ready for their flying laps on the soft tyre. Perez loses time in traffic but is still able to climb to P4. Meanwhile, Max makes the most of the fresh Pirellis and sets the fastest lap of the day.

The Mercedes manage the fourth and eighth fastest times, with George Russell extracting more lap time from the car than his colleague Lewis Hamilton, with the latter complaining about front brake issues.

With twenty laps to go, Max remains quickest, ahead of both Ferraris. Nevertheless, the Dutchman continues out on track, albeit not attempting to better his lap time as indicated by his use of the medium Pirellis and the DRS system staying closed on the straights.

More teams follow suit continuing to gather data instead of chasing fastest laps, meaning FP2 ends without any incidents.

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Results second free practice Bahrain: