Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was quickest in free practice today, going fastest in FP2 on the P Zero Red soft C3 tyre with a time of 1m31.936s, ahead of both Ferraris. The AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly topped the time sheets in FP1 on the same compound.

The FP2 session, which in Bahrain is usually most representative of qualifying and the race, got underway at 6pm today but temperatures were cooler than those usually seen in Bahrain (at 18 degrees centigrade ambient and 22 degrees on track) with the race expected to take place in warmer conditions. The drivers used mainly the hard compound during FP1, while in FP2 they focussed on the medium and soft; considering them as probably the best options for the race.

"The car felt good today, testing here last week means we've all started in a good place. We had quite a straightforward and smooth day so I'm pretty happy, we also tried a few things on the car in each session and they seemed to work well. You can see that Ferrari are pushing hard and are very close so that's exciting," said Verstappen. "Looking ahead, we'll have to wait and see with different teams' engine modes, no one is in quali spec yet so I think everyone still has a lot more to give. It's good to see the teams are all closer together, in general that's what everyone wants and I think over time teams will get even closer together."

Scuderia Ferrari finished both free practice sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit in second and third places. Today, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz tested all three tyre compounds available while working on set-up for Sunday's race and for qualifying, which starts tomorrow at 18 local (16 CET).

"Our first two sessions have gone rather well, without any issues. We seem to be quite competitive, but we have to keep in mind that it is still early to draw any conclusions," said Leclerc. "I am quite confident in the car and it felt good overall. We tested many things and worked on the car a lot since the first session. We made good progress and have to keep pushing to find small details ahead of qualifying tomorrow."

George Russell of Mercedes went fourth quickest in the first practice session of the day, with teammate Lewis Hamilton in P7. Under the floodlights of FP2, George again set the fourth quickest time with Lewis's car suffering a DRS issue throughout the session, finishing P9.

The team experimented with a number of items designed to mitigate the bouncing issue affecting W13, collecting valuable data as the team looks to regain the downforce lost due to porpoising.

FP2

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:31.936	131.685 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:32.023	0.087
3	Sainz		Ferrari		1:32.520	0.584
4	Russell		Mercedes	1:32.529	0.593
5	Alonso		Alpine		1:32.877	0.941
6	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:32.951	1.015
7	Perez		Red Bull	1:32.958	1.022
8	Schumacher	Haas		1:33.085	1.149
9	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.144	1.208
10	Magnussen	Haas		1:33.183	1.247
11	Norris		McLaren		1:33.280	1.344
12	Ocon		Alpine		1:33.360	1.424
13	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:33.621	1.685
14	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:33.789	1.853
15	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:33.953	2.017
16	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:33.958	2.022
17	Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	1:34.061	2.125
18	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:34.166	2.230
19	Latifi		Williams	1:34.486	2.550
20	Albon		Williams	1:34.735	2.799

FP1

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:34.193	128.530 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:34.557	0.364
3	Sainz		Ferrari		1:34.611	0.418
4	Russell		Mercedes	1:34.629	0.436
5	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:34.742	0.549
6	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:34.814	0.621
7	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.943	0.750
8	Alonso		Alpine		1:35.000	0.807
9	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:35.028	0.835
10	Perez		Red Bull	1:35.050	0.857
11	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:35.053	0.860
12	Ocon		Alpine		1:35.151	0.958
13	Latifi		Williams	1:35.644	1.451
14	Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	1:35.815	1.622
15	Albon		Williams	1:35.923	1.730
16	Norris		McLaren		1:36.304	2.111
17	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:36.402	2.209
18	Schumacher	Haas		1:36.536	2.343
19	Magnussen	Haas		1:36.804	2.611
20	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	No Time