Bahrain GP, live | Follow F1 Free Practice 2 in Sepang, with Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz
Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix | Saturday schedules
With these Free Practice 2 we put an end to the on-track activity this Friday, October 2. The cars will roar again tomorrow with Free Practice 3 and qualifying.
- Practice 3: from 06:30 a.m. to 07:30 a.m.
- Classification: from 10am to 11am
The top 3 of Free Practice 2 of the F1 Bahrain GP
Good feelings for Fernando Alonso; bad for Carlos Sainz
The pilot of Aston Martin confirmed the good feelings he had already shown in Free Practice 1 and finished 15th, posing himself as a candidate to fight to enter tomorrow’s Q2 of the qualy.
The one of Williamsfor its part, finished 17th; In Free Practice 1 he had been 20th. He should also be in the fight to enter Q2, but, of course, his feelings are infinitely worse than last weekend.
Mercedes failures
George Russell and Antonelli They finished in seventh and eighth position, respectively. This has happened because both have made a mistake in their fastest lap with the soft tires and have not been able to achieve a better record that would lead them to more leading positions.
Free Practice 2 is over!
The timer reaches 0:00 and, therefore, the session is ended, with Charles Leclerc leading it ahead of Hadjar and Norris.
2′ | Problems for Bortoleto
TO Bortoleto The car has stopped at the exit of 8th and the Virtual Safety Car appears with which we will finish the session.
4′ | Leclerc has not yet achieved Friday’s best time
For many minutes, Charles Leclerc occupies the first position in the time table with a 1:37.528. They are eight tenths slower than the time with which Verstappen He has led Free Practice 1.
6′ | Verstappen renounces soft tires
Max Verstappen He is the only driver who has refused to use the soft tires in this session. And, even so, he is being one of the fastest, so we can see that the Dutchman has an ace up his sleeve reserved for the next sessions.
9′ | Alonso and Bottas, together again
As happened in last Sunday’s race, Fernando Alonso and Valteri Bottas They are playing cat and mouse, constantly getting ahead of each other. Because of this, the Spaniard has now gone wide in the first corner.
12′ | The top 10
We are about to enter the last 10 minutes of the session and right now this is the top 10:
- Leclerc
- Hadjar
- Norris
- Verstappen
- hamilton
- Piastri
- Russel
- Antonelli
- Lawson
- Gasly
14′ | The Mercedes, 7th and 8th
It has been a particularly fruitful session for the top two finishers in the World Cup. They are in seventh and eighth position, with Russel ahead of Antonelli. Of course, both have medium tires.
16′ | Alonso stuck to Hadjar
It’s now Fernando Alonso the one who is on his heels and catching the slipstream of the Red Bull of Isaac Hadjar.
18′ | the rain disappears
It seems that finally the rain is not going to make an appearance and will allow us to enjoy these Libres 2 in the dry.
21′ | Bortoleto and Lindblad very close together
Go hand in hand they are marking each other Bortoleto and Lindblad. As if we were already in the race. They’ve already passed by a couple of times.
25′ | Red Bull are strong
They already demonstrated it in Azerbaijan and they maintain it now in Sepang. The Red Bull They are very strong. Max Verstappen He is recording the fourth fastest time and has not yet tried the soft ones.
27′ | Hadjar’s Great Time
keep flying Isaac Hadjar after his return from injury. It has now been 99 thousandths slower than Charles Leclerc and holds second position.
31′ | Some drops start to fall
The first drops are beginning to fall on the Sepang circuit. Especially at the beginning of the straight. For now, nothing serious, but let’s see what it turns out to be.
33′ | Good return from Norris
They improve the sensations of the McLarenalready in more forward positions. Lando Norris is now one tenth of the time of Leclerc and appears in the second position of the time table.
35′ | Charles Leclerc takes first
He went a little long in the last corner, but he still managed to set a 1:37.5 and beat the time of Max Verstappen.
38′ | Fernando Alonso improves his time
1:39.4 of Fernando Alonso to lap half a second faster than his previous lap and momentarily climb to 14th position.
41′ | Russell is going long
What an image the winner of the last race just starred. He was launching and in the last corner he went wide. So long that he ended up at the pit entrance, with a noticeable anger.
44′ | Very hot on the track
Despite the threat of rain, the temperature on the track now reads 60 degrees. This explains the great degradation suffered by the cars and which has already been palpable in Free Practice 1.
47′ | Most go with means
Almost all of them have come out with medium tires. Everyone, except for Gasly, Norris, Piastri, Bottas and Checho Pérez.
49′ | Good time by Fernando Alonso
In these moments, Fernando Alonso He appears in 15th place in the time table, after setting a 1:39.9.
51′ | Another complaint from Verstappen
As has already happened in several Free Practice sessions this season, Max Verstappen He complains on the radio that he is not quite comfortable in the seat of his car.
54′ | Verstappen marks the first great record
The Red Bull They were the last to leave and have just completed their first lap. Max Verstappenthe fastest in Free Practice 1, has just clocked a 1:37.7, two tenths faster than Russel.
58′ | Real threats of rain
All the pilots left in a hurry because the radars show serious possibilities of rain in a few minutes. And we already know that, in Sepang, when it rains, it rains well.
F1 Free Practice 2 of the Bahrain GP begins!
The pit lane traffic light is now green and, therefore, this second training session has already started.
One hour ahead!
09:55 Practice 3 of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix is about to begin
Five minutes until this second training session starts at the Sepang Circuit. It will help us to corroborate if Verstappen is still capable of imposing itself on the mercedesif the McLaren can step forward after their gloom Free 1Yeah Carlos Sainz and Williams They really have so little rhythm this weekend and yes Fernando Alonso He can maintain the positive feelings and can continue aspiring to more ambitious goals than beating his teammate and the Cadillacs.
09:50 Formula 1 driver classification
- Kimi Antonelli – 302 points
- George Russell – 236
- Lewis Hamilton – 199
- Lando Norris – 186
- Charles Leclerc – 179
- Max Verstappen – 163
- Oscar Piastri – 120
- Isaac Hadjar – 86
- Liam Lawson – 59
- Pierre Gasly – 41
- Arvid Lindblad – 37
- Franco Colapinto – 27
- Oliver Bearman – 20
- Gabriel Bortoleto – 10
- Nico Hulkenberg – 7
- Esteban Ocon – 7
- Carlos Sainz – 7
- Alex Albon – 5
- Fernando Alonso – 3
- Yuki Tsunoda – 1
- Lance Stroll – 0
- Valtteri Bottas – 0
- Sergio Perez – 0
09:45 Sanctions for the Bahrain GP
- Isack Hadjar: 5 places (seventh combustion engine of the season, exceeding the permitted limit).
- Arvid Lindblad: 30 positions (change of engine, turbo and exhaust outside the permitted assignment).
- Franco Colapinto: 15 positions (10 for installing a fifth engine + 5 for causing the accident with Gasly and Norris in Baku).
09:40 The current driver with the most victories at the Sepang Circuit is… Fernando Alonso
Of the 10 drivers on the current grid of F1 who have participated in a race at the Sepang International Circuit, Fernando Alonso He is the one with the most wins.
He won here in 2005 with renaultin 2007 with McLaren and in 2012 with Ferrari. In fact, in 2003, Magic achieved his first pole and his first podium here in Formula 1. It is, therefore, a route that brings back good memories for the Asturian driver.
09:35 A new circuit for more than half of the Formula 1 grid
As we said, a Grand Prix has not been held at the Sepang International Circuit since 2017. There have been nine years of absence in which many of the drivers who participated at that time have left the Formula 1 grid.
In fact, only 10 of the 22 current F1 drivers were in that 2017 GP. They are Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.
09:30 Why is it raced in Sepang if it is the Bahrain GP?
Although officially it is the Bahrain Grand Prixthe race takes place this weekend in the Sepang International Circuitin Malaysia. The appointment was originally scheduled for the month of April in Bahrain International Circuitbut the Formula 1 and the FIA They decided not to hold it then due to the situation they were going through. Middle East and for reasons related to the safety of teams, workers and fans.
Months later, the Formula 1the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia reached an agreement to recover the test from the calendar by moving it to Sepangwhich had not hosted a Grand Prix since 2017. The race officially maintains the name of Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026so it does not formally represent the return of the Malaysian Grand Prix, but rather the Malaysian track acts as an exceptional venue for the Bahrain GP.
09:25 What happened in Practice 1 of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix?
Max Verstappen He has started leading in Sepang. The Dutchman was the fastest in Free Practice 1 with a 1:37.520, 383 thousandths ahead of George Russell. Isaac Hadjar He surprised with third position, confirming his good feelings from last weekend, ahead of Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton. The McLarens have started more discreetly, with Oscar Piastri 11th and Lando Norris 12th.
Fernando Alonso finished 14th, 2,163 seconds behind Verstappenalthough he has clearly surpassed his teammate Lance Stroll, 18th. Carlos Sainz He suffered even more with the Williams and closed Free Practice 1 in 20th position, 3.085 seconds off the best time, only ahead of the two Cadillacs.
09:20 F1 Bahrain GP: Free practice 2, live
09:15 F1 Bahrain GP: Free practice 2, live | Schedule and where to see
This second training session of Bahrain Grand Prix It will begin at 10 a.m. this Friday, October 2, 2026.
He is in charge of the television broadcast DAZNbut you can follow the minute by minute of the session and the best information related to the Grand Prix in this coverage of the Sports World.
09:10 F1 Bahrain GP: Free practice 2, live
Good morning!
We welcome friends of the Sports World to the live coverage of Free Practice 2 of the Bahrain Grand Prixwhich is held at the Sepang circuit.
Let’s see if this weekend the sensations of Fernando Alonso and if Carlos Sainz can maintain the good pace of the last GP.
LiveBlog: 7215
11:18 THE CHRONICLE | Battle of three; Leclerc leads, Mercedes and Red Bull on the prowl, Fernando Alonso dreams