SEPANG, Malaysia — Charles Leclerc ended second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on top of the speed charts.
The Ferrari racer was fastest ahead of Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris.
The race is being run in Malaysia after the postponement of its date earlier in the season because of unrest in the Middle East
After familiarizing themselves with the Sepang International Circuit earlier on Friday during a dry and sunny opening practice hour, the drivers were faced with potentially more uncertain conditions entering into FP2 as dark clouds lingered over the track.
Most of the field appeared keen to get some early mileage on the board amid a 90 percent chance of rain during the session, leading to a queue of cars filing out of the pit lane when the green light.
Leclerc turned a fast lap of 1 minute and 37.528 seconds during the first half of the session and his lap remained on top despite a late blast by Hadjar in the second Red Bull machine, who came up .099 seconds behind Leclerc.
Norris led the McLaren outfit, taking third, while Hadjar’s teammate, Max Verstappen, and Leclerc’s mate, Lewis Hamilton completed the top five.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Gasly completed the top 10.
