Charles Leclerc set the pace for Ferrari in second practice for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, leading Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris after Max Verstappen had topped the opening session at Sepang.
Friday’s running left Ferrari and Red Bull at the front of the two session classifications, but tire degradation, changing grip and differing run plans prevented the teams from drawing firm conclusions before qualifying.
Leclerc puts Ferrari on top
Leclerc improved from fourth in FP1 to first in FP2 with a 1:37.528 on the soft tire. He finished 0.099 seconds ahead of Hadjar, with Norris third.
Ferrari had placed both cars in the top six during the opening session. Lewis Hamilton was sixth in FP1 and fifth in FP2, ending the later session 0.305 seconds behind Leclerc.
“We had a good day and learned a lot about this track, but there’s still plenty of work ahead of us until Sunday,” Leclerc said in Formula 1’s team reaction report. He added that Ferrari’s rivals could have more performance to show in qualifying.
Leclerc identified degradation as a central concern, saying small differences in corner approach could have a substantial effect on tire life. Hamilton also reported limited grip and said Ferrari had tested different setup directions while searching for the right balance.
Hamilton received a warning from the stewards for impeding Gabriel Bortoleto during practice. Motorsport.com also reported that Ferrari was fined over the incident.
Red Bull quick on different programs
Verstappen led FP1 with a 1:37.520, finishing 0.383 seconds ahead of George Russell. Hadjar placed third, giving Red Bull two cars in the opening session’s top three.
Hadjar then took second in FP2 with a 1:37.627. Verstappen was fourth on a 1:37.785, but set that time on the medium tire after Red Bull prioritized a long run instead of giving him a late soft-tire attempt.
Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché said the team expected rain in FP2. When it did not arrive, Red Bull focused on medium-tire behavior and degradation, leaving insufficient time for Verstappen to complete a soft run.
“I think we had a pretty decent start today,” Verstappen said. “We began well; the track was quite tricky as it was very hot with a lot of degradation.”
Hadjar said he was not completely satisfied with the car’s balance despite its pace. His Sunday prospects are also affected by a confirmed five-place grid penalty for fitting a new internal combustion engine.
Mercedes misses the FP2 top five
Mercedes began the weekend with Russell second and championship leader Kimi Antonelli fifth in FP1. The team then fell outside the top five in FP2, when mistakes at the final corner compromised both drivers’ soft-tire flying laps.
Antonelli ended FP2 eighth with a 1:38.060. Autosport reported that Mercedes occupied seventh and eighth in the session, while The Race noted that the upgraded car was almost half a second slower than Leclerc’s benchmark.
Antonelli said Mercedes completed its planned running and gathered data on its update. He named Red Bull as the quickest team on both single-lap and long-run pace, while also describing McLaren and Ferrari as competitive on higher fuel.
Mercedes entered Round 16 leading the teams’ standings with 538 points, ahead of Ferrari on 378 and McLaren on 306. Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings with 302 points, with Russell second on 236 and Hamilton third on 199.
McLaren improves after quiet start
McLaren made a clear step between the sessions. Oscar Piastri and Norris had finished 11th and 12th respectively in FP1, separated by 0.017 seconds, before Norris rose to third and Piastri took sixth in FP2.
Norris’ place behind Leclerc and Hadjar put McLaren into the leading group in the later session. Piastri said the team had made solid progress and described both its qualifying simulations and longer running as promising, while maintaining that further work was required.
The improvement came as the circuit gained grip through the day. The dusty surface and high temperatures complicated direct comparisons, while the rain threat in FP2 did not develop into the expected interruption.
Degradation dominates team feedback
The condition of the Sepang surface was a repeated theme in the teams’ assessments. Waché described it as extremely dusty and said grip changed substantially during Friday. Leclerc and Hamilton both called the track slippery, while Verstappen emphasized the combination of heat and degradation.
Those conditions also made the long runs particularly important. Red Bull’s decision to keep Verstappen on the medium compound meant his fourth-place FP2 time was produced on a different program from the soft-tire laps ahead of him.
With qualifying runs affected by track evolution and Mercedes’ final-corner errors, Friday did not establish a definitive one-lap order. Ferrari ended the day fastest, Red Bull placed both cars in the FP2 top four, and McLaren recovered from its low-key opening session.
Qualifying work remains
The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is being held at Sepang from October 2 to 4 as the 16th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Teams will now review tire behavior and setup data before final practice and qualifying, with Hadjar already carrying his five-place penalty into Sunday’s starting grid.
