The Red Bulls showed some winning pace in the first two practice sessions in the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Friday's practice sessions at the Sepang International Circuit have concluded, giving all 11 teams different sets of valuable data heading into qualifying on Saturday.
The second practice session also showed us just how tricky the weather conditions could be. Rain was in the forecast towards the early stages of the session, but the skies eventually cleared out. This is the sort of evolving weather forecasts that will keep every race strategist on the alert.
As for the drivers' performance, we saw several important takeaways that could dictate qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Verstappen could go for the win here
Max Verstappen is still looking for his first win of 2026, and he just might get it here in Malaysia. He topped Free Practice 1 with a time of 1:37.520, with his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar setting the third-fastest lap.
In the second practice session, Verstappen settled for P4, although he didn't use the soft tyre, which is the fastest compound. Meanwhile, Hadjar was still in the mix. The French driver finished second overall and was only +0.099 seconds behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
It's safe to say that Red Bull has an excellent pace around here. Verstappen says that the team was "surprisingly happy" with their Friday performance.
Leclerc gives the Tifosi a reason to dream
Fresh off a P4 finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap in FP2 with a time of 1:37.528. The Monegasque driver was also faster than his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in the two sessions. Hamilton settled for P6 in FP1, then climbed up a spot to P5 in FP2.
Leclerc praised the car's performance, but he also emphasized that their rival cars can still extract more performance starting tomorrow. On the other hand, Hamilton mentioned that he found it difficult to find the "right balance" in the car. He actually experimented with different setups, and they'll analyze the data to see which one works better.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur promised the Tifosi that there will be improvements soon. Can the Prancing Horse deliver a
Russell slots ahead of Antonelli
We just want a proper championship battle between the two Mercedes drivers. Lately, George Russell is obliging to the call.
After starting on pole and winning the race in the streets of Baku, Russell has shown better pace in Sepang practice than teammate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Russell finished FP1 with the second-fastest lap and was .677 ahead of his teammate.
Their times were closer in FP2, but Russell still inched ahead of Antonelli.
It's not much, as it's just practice after all. But Russell would surely take any small win that he could get. He's still 66 points behind Antonelli in the championship, and he's bent on keeping his good momentum going.
