Charles Leclerc leads second practice in Malaysia

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the pace at the end of the second free practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, taking place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this Sunday.

The Monegasque driver topped the timesheets during the second hour of running near Kuala Lumpur with a time of 1:37.528, edging out Red Bull's Isack Hadjar by 0.099 seconds. World champion Lando Norris rounded out the top three, 0.137 seconds adrift, bouncing back with a much stronger display after finishing 12th in the opening session earlier in the day.

Max Verstappen, who had been fastest in the opening session, slipped to fourth in the afternoon, finishing 0.257 seconds off Leclerc's benchmark. The Dutchman did not post a soft-tyre qualifying simulation during the session, opting instead to focus almost exclusively on long runs on Pirelli's medium compound.

The four-time world champion kicked off with a single flying lap on the mediums before returning to the pit lane with complaints regarding his seating position in the cockpit of his RB22. He subsequently switched straight to high-fuel runs amid forecasts predicting an over 90% chance of rain, though the downpour held off and the session remained entirely dry.

Behind Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton secured fifth place, with Oscar Piastri following in sixth. Mercedes duo George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli attempted soft-tyre qualifying simulations, but errors on their respective push laps meant neither improved on their earlier medium-compound efforts, leaving them seventh and eighth. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.

Late in the session, Gabriel Bortoleto ground to a halt on the exit of Turn 8 with a mechanical issue on his Audi. Onboard footage and brief team radio chatter suggested a suspected gearbox failure on the R26.

The Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, round 16 of the 2026 Formula 1 season, continues tomorrow at 07:30 Bulgarian time with the third and final free practice session at Sepang.