This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.
So that’s the end of a fairly undramatic second practice session – with the exception of Alonso’s steering trouble. Here’s the second practice report.
Leclerc has split the Mercedes to set the fourth-fastest time in his Ferrari, but no one is within half a second of the McLarens at the moment.
An improved showing for Carlos Sainz Jnr so far in this session, ahead of Albon in eighth place.
Esteban Ocon can only manage 14th, nearly three tenths of a second off his team mate, but Bearman says “that last corner is making me very confused.”
Oliver Bearman goes up to seventh in the Haas, one second off Piastri’s pace.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli goes fourth behind his team mate. Isack Hadjar has produced another strong lap in the Racing Bulls which puts him fifth and offers some context for Verstappen’s now sixth-fastest time.
Scratch that! Piastri went fastest in the second and third sectors and beats Norris’s time by 0.154s. Russell slots into third but he’s half a second behind.
Norris produces a very strong lap in the McLaren, his 1’30.659 puts him on top by 0.671 seconds. Piastri following along behind not quite on that pace.
Now it’s Verstappen’s turn to lead the times with a 1’31.330 on softs. Albon impressively up in second ahead of the Ferraris. But here comes Norris…
Leclerc is on a quick lap on softs now, he takes the top spot off Hamilton with a 1’31.729, almost two-tenths of a second quicker.
According to McLaren, Norris changed helmet purely for comfort reasons.
Hamilton’s earlier lap was actually on the mediums – now he does a lap on softs and goes quickest, 1’31.915m just three-hundredths of a second up on Russell.
Aston Martin confirm they’re changing parts of the steering system on Alonso’s car after that drama earlier on.
Hamilton produced a 1’32.157 on mediums, but Russell has beaten that with a 1’31.945 on the same rubber.
Norris also has a problem: “I need to swap helmet, swap HANS device and clean the headrest please.”
Alonso’s steering wheel came off as he approached the final corner. He may have removed it in an attempt to reset it and fix his problem, it’s not clear.
An alarming problem for Alonso: “Change the steering wheel. There’s a problem with the steering wheel, it’s switching off.”
Hamilton does a 1’32.157 to lead the field on mediums. It’s
Verstappen is straight out on a set of softs and the Red Bull driver runs wide at the exit of turn 10. “The ride is very bad. The car is jumping a lot,” he reports.
Leclerc wastes no time getting on with his programme in the Ferrari, setting a 1’33.347 on the mediums. Gasly puts up a 1’32.699 on hards to lead the times.
Lewis Hamilton passes two drivers by driving on the right-hand side of the pit lane exit, two wheels still within the track, as he heads out.
Williams have been fined €7,500 (£6,500) for allowing Albon to impede his team mate Browning in first practice.
The air temperature has dropped around 5C to 31C as the sun starts to set at the track. The track surface has cooled by around 10C to 36C, so conditions in this session should be far more representative of tomorrow’s qualifying session and Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix.
Yuki Tsunoda had a rap on the knuckles for overtaking Alexander Albon in the pit lane during the first practice session. He’s been given his first reprimand of the season. No word yet on any penalty for Albon for impeding Luke Browning, who drove Sainz’s car during the first practice session.
For Max Verstappen, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Charles Leclerc and Oliver Bearman, this will be their first running of the weekend, as rookie drivers took over their cars for the first session.
Second practice for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix is coming up next.
2025 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Piastri leads McLaren one-two as Alonso’s steering wheel comes off in practice
- As it happened: 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix second practice
- Sainz avoids investigation for swearing in FIA press conference
- Norris leads first practice, Tsunoda and Albon under investigation
- As it happened: 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix first practice
