Kimi Raikkonen led a closely-matched Ferrari 1-2 during second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the squad opened a sizeable advantage over the chasing pack – though the Finn is under investigation for an unsafe release.
As teams carried out short runs on the red-banded Supersoft tyres beneath the lights at Sakhir, Ferrari came to the fore, with the SF71-H comfortably the fastest package.
Raikkonen set a best time of 1:29.817 to beat team-mate Sebastian Vettel by a mere 0.011s, with the operation having also led the way during the initial Soft tyre runs.
Ferrari’s day was nonetheless far from perfect as Raikkonen was forced to park at Turn 2 with 15 minutes remaining after he was released from a practice pit stop with a loose left-right wheel.
It has yet to be determined whether Raikkonen or Ferrari will receive a sanction for the unsafe release, with stewards currently investigating the incident.
Valtteri Bottas again emerged as the quickest Mercedes driver, but languished 0.563s behind compatriot Raikkonen, with Lewis Hamilton a further tenth of a second back in fourth.
Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were a few tenths behind in fifth and sixth respectively, the Dutchman racking up much needed mileage after his FP1 setback.
Ricciardo, meanwhile, was unable to convert his pace from earlier in the day, albeit with one lap compromised when he stumbled upon an errant Bottas as he exited Turn 4.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg led the midfield charge in seventh place, almost half a second behind Ricciardo, while Pierre Gasly again demonstrated encouraging pace for Toro Rosso.
Gasly wound up eighth overall, just 0.012s down on Hulkenberg, with McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 10.
Haas had a relatively low-key display after its previous 2018 eye-catching performances, with Romain Grosjean 11th and Kevin Magnussen 15th, split by Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and the Force India pairing of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.
Sauber and Williams finished a further few tenths behind that group, as Charles Leclerc headed Lance Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin and Marcus Ericsson.
Sirotkin and Ericsson both had medium-speed spins through the gravel, with the Williams FW41 snapping sideways at Turn 11 and his Sauber counterpart running off at Turn 3.
Brendon Hartley was unable to match the pace of Toro Rosso team-mate Gasly as he finished as the slowest of the 20 runners, just over three seconds behind Raikkonen.
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