FP2 REPORT | Alonso shines as he tops the session ahead of the Red Bulls

Fernando Alonso topped FP2 in Bahrain with a 1:30.907, building on Aston Martin’s already strong showing. The Spaniard was followed by the two Red Bulls.

The Ferraris came out strong in the first stints, with Charles Leclerc leading the pack ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton on soft tyres, while the Red Bulls and the Aston Martins were running on mediums.

However, on the second stints of simulating qualifying laps, both Red Bulls and Alonso jumped the Ferraris, with Carlos Sainz falling back into 14th place, while Leclerc finished 4th, 0.460 seconds behind the eventual winner Alonso.

On their fastest laps, Perez was the first to jump to the top but was eventually beaten by Alonso by a difference of 0.171 seconds.

Verstappen was the last one out of three drivers to set his lap time, and ran wide into Turn 4, but was close to topping the session. He eventually missed out on reclaiming his FP2 win from last season by 0.169 seconds, but there is still room for improvement for the defending champion.

The Dutch driver complained about his car during the session, so Red Bull is hoping to fix all their issues continued on from FP1 ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session. Charles Leclerc experienced clutch issues, and furthermore, George Russell asked his team to check the floor of his car.

The biggest surprise of the session was Nico Hülkenberg, who finished 5th with his Haas, which can raise the American team’s hopes for another strong start to their season.

Furthermore, AlphaTauri will be investigated by the stewards, as Nyck de Vries was released dangerously from his garage and almost collided with Lando Norris.

Rookie American Logan Sargeant, just like Oscar Piastri, had several lockups during the session, while injured Lance Stroll was also struggling on track.