F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton Leads Mercedes 1-2 in FP2, Verstappen Finishes 6th

Verstappen initially lagged half a second behind Hamilton but, despite later improvements on the same tyres, couldn't significantly challenge the seven-time champion.

By Divyam Dubey | on February 29, 2024 Follow us on Autox Google News

Lewis Hamilton gave the Mercedes team a huge boost on Thursday when he showed his talent by finishing first in FP2 for the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. Second place went to teammate George Russell, and Max Verstappen of Red Bull came in sixth. Third place went to Fernando Alonso, with Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri following closely behind.

With a top performance of 1 minute, 30.37 seconds in free practice 2, Hamilton has given the Mercedes camp reason to be optimistic. Mercedes is starting the 2024 Formula One season with high hopes that their new W15 chassis will represent a turnaround after two difficult years. With a benchmark time of 1:30.751s within the first six minutes of the practice, Hamilton set the tone early on. Throughout the second practice session, he kept a half-second advantage over Verstappen.

Verstappen took comfort in his race simulation, where he beat Hamilton to the finish line and became the fastest contender, despite Hamilton's overwhelming lead. As the qualifying simulation periods ran out, Hamilton maintained his lead over Russell, Alonso, Sainz, Piastri, and Verstappen. 

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: FP2 Result

Teams started their runs on a variety of compounds, from medium to soft, with the leaders starting on the red-walled Pirelli rubber. The early pace was established by Sainz in the 1m31s range, but Sergio Perez soon overtook him with a timing of 1m31.629s. At one point, Charles Leclerc had the lead with a time of 1 minute, 31.578 seconds, but Hamilton quickly reclaimed the position with a time of 1 minute, 30.751 seconds. With a time of 1 minute, 31.03 seconds, Alonso finished second, dividing the top two.

F1 McLaren MCL38

After falling half a second shy of Hamilton's benchmark on his first lap with the W15, Verstappen continued to improve on the same tyres but was unable to catch up to the seven-time champion. Hamilton's initial soft-tyre time would have been better than Verstappen's best, which was 1 minute and 38 seconds.

Williams' Albon and Sargeant finished eleventh and thirteenth, respectively, in the middle of the pack, with FP1 leader Ricciardo wedged in twelveth. For Haas, Magnussen took 14th place, and Tsunoda came in 15th. While Gasly took 16th for Alpine, Bottas finished 17th after being investigated for a pit lane violation.

Pos Drivers Team Time Gap Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 01:30.4 01:30.4 25
2 George Russell Mercedes 01:30.6 +0.206s 23
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 01:30.7 +0.286s 22
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 01:30.8 +0.395s 25
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 01:30.8 +0.410s 27
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 01:30.9 +0.477s 25
7 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 01:30.9 +0.510s 23
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 01:30.9 +0.517s 26
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 01:31.1 +0.739s 26
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 01:31.1 +0.741s 26
11 Alexander Albon Williams 01:31.3 +0.959s 26
12 Daniel Ricciardo VCARB 01:31.5 +1.142s 26
13 Logan Sargeant Williams 01:31.7 +1.341s 27
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 01:31.8 +1.390s 27
15 Yuki Tsunoda VCARB 01:31.9 +1.507s 29
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 01:32.0 +1.577s 25
17 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber 01:32.0 +1.627s 24
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine 01:32.0 +1.653s 25
19 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber 01:32.0 +1.674s 28
20 Lando Norris McLaren 01:32.6 +2.234s 25

After abandoning his flying lap owing to an earlier error, Norris finished the day in last place, with Ocon and Zhou occupying the 18th and 19th positions, respectively. 

Tags: Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix F1 Bahrain Grand Prix

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