Lewis Hamilton finished in eighth place in the second free practice session due to a mistake at the last corner.
The battle for the podium is wide open in Bahrain. Excluding the McLarens, which are untouchable based on today’s performance, the midfield fight is a tight one between Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull. The Scuderia from Maranello brought new updates, starting with a new floor designed to provide more downforce to an SF-25 that struggles to be competitive. In the afternoon session, Leclerc finished in fourth, while Hamilton ended in eighth due to a small error.
The British driver, who also participated in the morning session with a third-place finish, commented on his Friday in Bahrain. “These are the words of Sir Lewis: The first session was quite challenging as the heat made it difficult to find grip, so it wasn’t a particularly representative session.”
The seven-time world champion then added: “In the second session, we made progress: the lap with the softs seemed good, but I went a bit wide at the last corner and lost some time. Our laps in race configuration were consistent, but the others seem competitive in all conditions. Tonight, we’ll work hard to try to close the gap.”
