Charles Leclerc topped FP2 at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, getting the better of Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five at the Sepang International Circuit.
Rain threatened the second hour of running on F1's return for the first time since 2017.
However, despite a 90 per cent chance of it, the inclement weather stayed away from the track an hour outside Kuala Lumpur.
Unusually, Leclerc's 1:37.528 was slower than Verstappen's FP1 effort by eight thousandths of a second, with sky-high ambient and air temperatures affecting performance.
McLaren looked stronger, having finished Free Practice 1 in P11 and P12, respectively. Although the MCL40s did post the best long run pace during that session.
The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were curiously quiet, down in seventh and eighth, with the W17s struggling with tyre degradation on the abrasive track surface, with oppressive heat to boot.
Gabriel Bortoleto stopped out on track with a couple of minutes remaining, bringing out the virtual safety car and ending the action. The Audi driver ended the hour in P12.
Check out the full results from Free Practice 2 ahead of the 2026 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia below.
Result Free practice 2 - Bahrain
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Tyre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results are being loaded... | ||||
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