Nico Rosberg sets the pace under floodlights, Jenson Button third for McLaren

Nico Rosberg set the pace for Mercedes in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday evening, under dark skies and bright floodlights.

Rosberg set the pace on the soft tyre, before clocking in a 1m31.001s on the super-soft Pirellis mid-way through the 90-minute long session, quick enough to end Friday fastest.

Lewis Hamilton was second at the Bahrain International Circuit, finishing two tenths behind his Mercedes team-mate.

McLaren's Jenson Button surprised many by jumping up to third on his super-soft qualifying run.

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Toro Rosso racer Max Verstappen was fourth quickest, 1.4 seconds behind Rosberg’s benchmark, with Kimi Raikkonen fifth for Ferrari.

The Finn spent the opening part of the session completing a long run on the medium compound before switching focus to the softer tyres.

Sebastian Vettel was sixth in the second Ferrari, despite stopping with 15 minutes left on the clock.

He reported that his car “lost drive” before parking it at Turn 8 but the stoppage proved to be due to a loose left-rear wheel nut.

Daniil Kvyat and Valtteri Bottas ended the day seventh and eighth respectively, while their team-mates Daniel Ricciardo – who spent a considerable amount of time in the garage while Red Bull checked his car – and Felipe Massa completed the top 10.

Stoffel Vandoorne, who replaces the injured Fernando Alonso this weekend, was 11th quickest on his first day behind the wheel of the MP4-31. 

Esteban Gutierrez, Carlos Sainz Jr, Romain Grosjean – who caused a late yellow flag after a front wing failure – and Sergio Perez were next up.

Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg, Jolyon Palmer, Pascal Wehrlein, Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto completed the results in second practice.