Bahrain '25: FP2 Recap

All eyes are on a McLaren win this weekend in Bahrain (who are owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund), and FP2 only confirmed their confidence. During the session, Haas driver Ollie Bearman was confused by the last corner, as the McLarens seemed to be in FP1. However it was clear the papaya pair had quickly changed their approach come the second installment of practice. Oscar Piastri took P1, with Lando Norris 0.1 seconds behind in P2. The rest of the pack were over half a second behind the duo, which served as another piece of evidence to support the predicted McLaren dominance this season. 

Our most recent Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen stepped into the car for the first time this weekend, but was met with labour from a troublesome braking system. Front lock ups and braking problems were shared with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who ended up down in P18. 

The steering wheel of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin proved to bring a battle and a half during the session, when its functions lost power. After this, it's unclear whether the steering wheel fell off, or Alonso himself removed it to kickstart it. Regardless, he returned to the pits and was promptly surrounded by his mechanic team, hiding the car from the press and other teams. The FIA quickly went to investigate the incident, which soon fizzled out, and the team worked to rectify the problem. 

Even after updates to the two Ferrari cars, Lewis Hamilton (P8) still wrestled with improvements. Charles Leclerc (P4) fared slightly better in his pace, but was still left wanting more alongside George Russell just ahead of him. Russell was the third fastest on track, and had a brief revival of his feud with Verstappen. After battling to get past the Red Bull driver, Russell eventually passed him, and gave a cheeky wave as he did so. Antonelli was close behind his teammate in 5th, and seems to be adapting exceptionally well to the Mercedes car. 

Photo credit: "201 Bahrain GP - FP3 and qualifying" by CaterhamF1 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.