Fernando Alonso set the pace in FP2 to further hype Aston Martin’s F1 2023 bid in Bahrain GP, from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Carrying on the pre-season hype, Aston Martin’s Alonso fueled it further by topping the FP2 session in F1 Bahrain GP under the floodlights with a 1m30.907s lap – the only to dip in the 1m30s barrier – ahead of the two Red Bull cars.
It was Verstappen (1m31.076s) in second and Perez (1m31.078s) third, where the former complained about not having the feel that he had in the pre-season test. The Dutchman had same problems in FP1 too, as he was only 0.002s quicker than his teammate.
On-track, both had a clean run while Alonso had a lock-up at the Turn 10 during his long run. Behind the two Red Bull cars was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who reported of clutch issues which was resolved during the session by the mechanics.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg put in a surprise lap in fifth upon his F1 returning session, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in sixth. The Canadian did well to be in the Top 6 as onboard showed him taking precautions by releasing his hands to ease the pain.
Stroll has broken bones on his right hand, but with the higher G-force, the Canadian was seen relaxing both his hands. The rest of the Top 10 behind had different teams with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in seventh from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was ninth and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu rounded the Top 10. The Brit had a moment inside the pitlane when AlphaTauri released Nyck de Vries in his way with the incident to be investigated after the FP2 session.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, was 11th in the pink liveried A523 with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in 11th from the other Mercedes of George Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – where the latter did not get in a good lap to be further up.
In a close field, Russell in 13th was within a second of Alonso’s time. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was 15th with the Australian having double moments in the session. One was having a lock-up at Turn 1, the other being a wheel-to-wheel battle.
On the main straight, Piastri came out of the shadows of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda only to be find Stroll on the racing line coming out of the pits. The Australian had to take evasive action which again locked-up his wheels to further damage the tyres.
Piastri led Haas’ Kevin Magnussen with Williams’ Alexander Albon in 17th from AlphTauri pair of Tsunoda and de Vries, while the Williams’ Logan Sargeant rounded the 20 runners. The Dutchman among these also had a lock-up at Turn 10.
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Here’s how F1 Bahrain GP FP1 panned out
