Verstappen was 0.477 seconds slower than Hamilton and came in sixth fastest. His Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez conceded 0.741 seconds and achieved the tenth fastest time.
Verstappen was 0.477 seconds slower than Hamilton and came in sixth fastest. His Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez conceded 0.741 seconds and achieved the tenth fastest time.
The second free practice took place in the dark, just like qualifying on Friday and the Grand Prix itself on Saturday. In the first free practice, Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Visa Cash App RB, formerly AlphaTauri) was the fastest, also on the faster soft tires. Verstappen, like the drivers of Mercedes and others, drove on medium tires and finished sixth, a fraction ahead of Hamilton.
Hamilton quite satisfied
The seven-time world champion from Mercedes was quite satisfied after the second session. “I have a better feeling for the car approaching the corners, but there are also other things that have been solved and improved. It now feels like a race car again and the previous two cars didn’t feel like that,” Hamilton said afterwards . “But I don’t think our speed on the longer stretches is close to that of the Red Bulls, so we still have some work to do there.”
Verstappen said on his website that he was not impressed by the time difference with Hamilton. “I’m not worried about the difference with P1. I think it will be very close during qualifying, so that’s nice,” said the reigning world champion. “Some around us have boosted the engine a little further for more top speed. We are not far off. I am quite happy with the car and we have focused a little more on the long runs.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix will be held on Saturday. The third free practice and qualifying are on Friday.