Summary
- Verstappen set Friday’s fastest lap, a 1:37.520 during the opening session at Sepang.
- Leclerc led FP2 and finished second overall, ahead of Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris.
- George Russell and Sergio Pérez joined Verstappen and Franco Colapinto in recording their best times in FP1.
Max Verstappen finished Friday’s Formula 1 running at Sepang with the fastest lap across both practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The Red Bull driver’s 1:37.520 in FP1 remained unbeaten, although Charles Leclerc came within eight thousandths of a second during the afternoon.
Leclerc topped FP2 with a 1:37.528, putting Ferrari second in the combined classification. Isack Hadjar finished third overall with a 1:37.627, followed by Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. The six fastest drivers were separated by just 0.379s.
George Russell took seventh in the combined order, retaining his morning benchmark of 1:37.903. Kimi Antonelli finished eighth with his FP2 time, leaving both Mercedes drivers behind the two Red Bulls, Ferraris and McLarens on Friday’s best-lap classification.
Verstappen’s morning lap survives Leclerc’s FP2 challenge
Verstappen led the opening session ahead of Russell, with Hadjar third and Leclerc fourth. His advantage over the Mercedes driver stood at 0.383s, but the afternoon produced a much closer grouping at the front.
Leclerc topped FP2 ahead of Hadjar and Norris, while Verstappen finished that session fourth. The Dutchman’s afternoon best was 1:37.785, meaning his earlier lap remained the reference for the day.
Hadjar ended Friday 0.107s behind his teammate in the combined results, with Norris a further 0.038s back. Hamilton’s afternoon improvement put him fifth overall, while Piastri completed the leading six.
Sepang Friday combined F1 practice results
The classification below uses each driver’s fastest lap from either FP1 or FP2. The Laps column shows their total completed laps across both sessions.
| Pos. | Driver | Team/Engine | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. VERSTAPPEN | Red Bull RBPT Ford | 1:37.520 | — | 43 |
| 2 | C. LECLERC | Ferrari | 1:37.528 | +0.008 | 53 |
| 3 | I. HADJAR | Red Bull RBPT Ford | 1:37.627 | +0.107 | 45 |
| 4 | L. NORRIS | McLaren Mercedes | 1:37.665 | +0.145 | 45 |
| 5 | L. HAMILTON | Ferrari | 1:37.833 | +0.313 | 48 |
| 6 | O. PIASTRI | McLaren Mercedes | 1:37.899 | +0.379 | 48 |
| 7 | G. RUSSELL | Mercedes | 1:37.903 | +0.383 | 52 |
| 8 | K. ANTONELLI | Mercedes | 1:38.060 | +0.540 | 50 |
| 9 | L. LAWSON | Racing Bulls RBPT Ford | 1:38.496 | +0.976 | 52 |
| 10 | P. GASLY | Alpine Mercedes | 1:38.588 | +1.068 | 50 |
| 11 | A. LINDBLAD | Racing Bulls RBPT Ford | 1:38.880 | +1.360 | 59 |
| 12 | G. BORTOLETO | Audi | 1:39.051 | +1.531 | 50 |
| 13 | N. HÜLKENBERG | Audi | 1:39.109 | +1.589 | 53 |
| 14 | E. OCON | Haas Ferrari | 1:39.361 | +1.841 | 51 |
| 15 | F. ALONSO | Aston Martin Honda | 1:39.478 | +1.958 | 49 |
| 16 | O. BEARMAN | Haas Ferrari | 1:39.706 | +2.186 | 53 |
| 17 | C. SAINZ | Williams Mercedes | 1:39.930 | +2.410 | 55 |
| 18 | L. STROLL | Aston Martin Honda | 1:40.150 | +2.630 | 45 |
| 19 | V. BOTTAS | Cadillac Ferrari | 1:40.186 | +2.666 | 49 |
| 20 | A. ALBON | Williams Mercedes | 1:40.221 | +2.701 | 51 |
| 21 | F. COLAPINTO | Alpine Mercedes | 1:40.531 | +3.011 | 52 |
| 22 | S. PÉREZ | Cadillac Ferrari | 1:40.820 | +3.300 | 51 |
What do the combined practice times tell us?
Eighteen of the 22 drivers recorded their fastest laps in FP2. Verstappen, Russell, Colapinto and Pérez were the exceptions, with their morning times securing their positions in the combined classification.
Liam Lawson finished ninth overall, ahead of Pierre Gasly, while Arvid Lindblad took 11th. Gabriel Bortoleto was the faster Audi driver in 12th, ending the day 0.058s ahead of Nico Hülkenberg despite stopping on track late in FP2.
Esteban Ocon led the two Haas drivers in 14th, with Fernando Alonso between him and Oliver Bearman. Carlos Sainz finished 17th, ahead of Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Williams teammate Alex Albon.
Colapinto’s morning lap placed him ahead of Pérez in the combined order. Both drivers were slower in FP2, so the afternoon classification alone does not reflect their quickest laps of the day.
The combined table provides a useful overview of Friday’s running, but it is not a definitive ranking of qualifying or race pace. Fuel loads, tyre choices, track conditions and individual run programmes can affect the times, while each driver’s single fastest lap says little about consistency over a longer stint.
Formula 1 continues this weekend, from 2–4 October, in Malaysia, which hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix. GRANDE PRÊMIO will cover all the action at Sepang.
F1 today: FAQ
What time is F1 qualifying at Sepang?
Qualifying starts on Saturday, 3 October, at 16:00 Malaysia time. That is 09:00 BST in the UK, 04:00 EDT in New York and Toronto, 01:00 PDT in Los Angeles and Vancouver, 13:30 IST in India and 18:00 AEST in Sydney.
Did Lewis Hamilton receive a grid penalty for the Bortoleto incident?
No. Hamilton received a warning after impeding Gabriel Bortoleto during FP2 at Sepang. Ferrari was fined €10,000, but Hamilton will not lose grid positions over the incident.
Why were F1 lap times at Sepang over four seconds slower than expected?
Pirelli identified low grip, dust and an abrasive surface that increased tyre sliding and degradation. Friday’s benchmark was more than four seconds slower than its qualifying simulation reference, rather than four seconds slower than the 2017 race weekend.
Who was fastest across Friday’s F1 practice sessions at Sepang?
Max Verstappen was fastest with a 1:37.520 set in FP1. Charles Leclerc finished second overall, just 0.008s behind.
