Leclerc fastest in second practice in Sepang after Verstappen sets early pace

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped Friday’s second Formula One practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, while Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli struggled to find his rhythm at a dusty Sepang circuit. Leclerc lapped the 5.543-km circuit with a time of one minute, 37.528 seconds, less than a tenth of a second faster than Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar who improved his lap time on the soft tyres. McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris was third-fastest in FP2 after finishing 12th in the first session at the Sepang International Circuit, which is hosting the Bahrain race due to the conflict in the Middle East. Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen had dominated the opening session and still held the fastest time of the day (1:37.520) from FP1, but could only manage fourth in the second session as he eyes his first win of the season. “We started off well. It’s just very high deg (degradation). A lot of things to look at with the tyres,” Verstappen said. “We tried a few things, but then also the track is hotter, different tyres. In FP1 you’re on softs and then in FP2 I was on mediums, so a bit hard to say if we actually went forward.” Verstappen won the last Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang in 2017 before it dropped off the F1 calendar, with the government saying it could no longer justify the costs. Friday’s sessions unfolded under sunny skies, though a dusty start-finish straight created hazy viewing conditions, and teams were relieved to see the rain stay away. “Today the conditions were very, very poor and so it was very slippery,” Leclerc said. “We need to be good at anticipating what it will feel like tomorrow once the track is in better condition. High degradation is going to be a big thing for the race, because tyres are not lasting for very long.” STEWARDS INVESTIGATE HAMILTON Lewis Hamilton collected a warning for impeding Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto at turn nine, with Ferrari fined 10,000 euros. Stewards accepted Hamilton’s right-hand mirror was damaged and the team had given him no radio warning. The seven-time world champion was fifth-fastest while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had been 11th in FP1, improved to sixth. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Antonelli were seventh and eighth fastest while Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10. Russell had been second-fastest in FP1 despite struggling with tyre degradation. “At the moment, Verstappen is looking the quickest in a single lap and McLaren are looking quickest in the long runs,” Russell said after what deputy principal Bradley Lord said was “probably one of our toughest Fridays of the season so far”. Mercedes, who brought a new upgrade package to their car, arrived sporting a vibrant teal-green livery at the home track of their title sponsor Petronas. While Russell appeared to adapt quickly to the circuit he was driving on for the first time in FP1, Antonelli was more than a second off the pace but improved to a little over half a second off the pace in FP2. The Mercedes duo are separated by 66 points at the top of the championship standings. VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR With two minutes to go in the session, Bortoleto was forced to stop his car on the track. The Brazilian climbed out while complaining over the team radio about his gearbox, triggering the virtual safety car as marshals pushed his car to the side. Earlier, the FIA said Hadjar, Lindblad and Franco Colapinto exceeded their seasonal allowances for engines and the three drivers received grid penalties. Racing Bulls confirmed Lindblad was taking a fifth new power unit and would start at the back, while Colapinto received a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his internal combustion engine allocation for the first time. Colapinto had already been given a five-place grid penalty for causing the crash at turn one in Baku which took out team mate Gasly and Norris.