SEPANG, Oct 2 — Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to hand a timely boost to team boss Fred Vasseur in Friday’s second free practice of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The 28-year-old Monegasque driver, who had spoken out in support of Vasseur on Thursday, clocked a best lap of one minute and 37.528 seconds to outpace Hadjar by 0.099 seconds in an uneventful session run in sweltering conditions.
World champion Lando Norris of McLaren recovered from a disappointing 12th place in the opening run to take third ahead of four-time champion Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari, and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.
