Lewis Hamilton dominated the second practice session for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, leading a Mercedes 1-2. Defending Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen struggled, finishing almost half a second off the pace and outside the top five once again. The temperatures in FP2 were cooler compared to the first practice session, with an air temperature of 17°C and a track temperature of 22°C. This may have contributed to the performance difference between Mercedes and Red Bull, with Mercedes benefiting from better tire warm-up. Hamilton was particularly impressive, setting the fastest time in both of his qualifying simulation runs.
Hamilton’s ultimate fastest time was 1m30.174s, giving him a two-tenth advantage over his teammate George Russell. Fernando Alonso finished in third place, 0.286s behind Hamilton. Carlos Sainz was the fastest Ferrari driver in fourth, followed by Oscar Piastri in fifth for McLaren. Verstappen struggled on his soft tire attempts, finishing around half a second off the pace. However, the long-run simulations on soft tires showed more promise for him and Red Bull.
During the long runs, Sergio Perez set the fastest time, but Piastri’s performance on soft tires in the McLaren was also noteworthy. Lando Norris, Piastri’s teammate, had a difficult session and ended up slowest of all, six tenths behind the leaders due to an error exiting the final corner on his qualifying simulation. Perez extended his run on soft tires to 17 laps, four laps longer than Piastri before switching to mediums.
Nico Hulkenberg impressed with a strong seventh-place finish for Haas, a team that focused on long runs during pre-season testing and FP1. His time of 1m30.884s was almost nine tenths faster than his teammate Kevin Magnussen’s time. Lance Stroll finished eighth, closely behind his teammate Alonso. Charles Leclerc, who voiced his frustration over other drivers’ lack of awareness on the team radio, finished ninth, with Perez in the second Red Bull rounding out the top 10.