Verstappen fronts Norris in ultra-close Bahrain FP2

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his impressive start to the 2021 Formula 1 season in a closely-contested second practice session in Bahrain.

Verstappen topped pre-season testing at the venue and stayed ahead during Friday afternoon’s opening session.

The Dutch driver trailed the Mercedes duo after the initial runs on Medium tyres but Verstappen moved to the front when drivers embarked on their Soft tyre efforts.

Verstappen clocked a time of 1:30.847s to emerge quickest but it was McLaren, not Mercedes, which had the second-fastest package.

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Lando Norris, third in the opening session, classified a mere 0.095s behind the Red Bull driver as he showed strong one-lap pace in the Mercedes-powered MCL35M.

Mercedes classified third and fifth, with Valtteri Bottas again ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton, the duo split by Carlos Sainz, who set eye-catching pace in Ferrari’s SF21.

An incredibly competitive session

Formula 1 teams have become accustomed to the Bahrain International Circuit, following two rounds in late 2020, as well as three days of pre-season running earlier this month.

Following the Soft tyre runs 15 of the 20 competitors clocked a time within a second of pacesetter Verstappen.

Daniel Ricciardo reinforced the pace of McLaren’s MCL35M by finishing sixth, while Yuki Tsunoda was an impressive seventh as he prepares for his debut with AlphaTauri.

Lance Stroll was the lead Aston Martin driver in eighth, ahead of Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri team-mate Pierre Gasly, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.

Esteban Ocon took 11th for Alpine, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Antonio Giovinazzi displayed encouraging gains for Alfa Romeo by classifying 13th.

Sebastian Vettel slid wide on his Soft tyre run, condemning him to 14th, with Fernando Alonso in 15th spot.

Raikkonen shunts, Russell impresses

Kimi Raikkonen became the first driver to strike the barriers this year as he lost control of his Alfa Romeo C41 through the exit of Turn 2 in the opening stages of the session.

Raikkonen slid into the tyres on the outside of the circuit, sustaining front-end damage, but was able to slowly recover to the pit lane, prior to re-joining the action later in the session.

George Russell was only 17th, four-tenths behind Raikkonen, but finished a second clear of Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi.

Mick Schumacher ensured Haas avoided having both cars at the back as he edged ahead of Nicholas Latifi to finish 18th, with Nikita Mazepin slowest of the 20 competitors, via an early spin through Turn 5.

Saturday’s final practice session is scheduled to begin at 15:00 local time.

[motorsport_result id=’59202′]