Alonso shines under the lights as Aston Martin usurp Red Bull

Fernando Alonso added fuel to the fire of Aston Martin hopes by finishing fastest in Bahrain Grand Prix second practice.

The two-time champion is making his debut for the Silverstone-based outfit this weekend and having finished second in FP1 finished 0.169secs faster than Red Bull's Max Verstappen after posting a one minute, 30.907s.

Crucially, the strong pace came as darkness fell and conditions became representative for qualifying and the race across the weekend.

Sergio Perez was only 0.002s adrift of his team-mate with Verstappen complaining of his RB19 'jumping a lot'.

Ferrari looks off the pace if times are to be believed, with Charles Leclerc fourth, almost half a second slower than Alonso.

The surprise of the session was Nico Hulkenberg, who matched Leclerc's pace to finish fifth ahead of Lance Stroll, who showed impressive performance considering his lack of running time.

Pierre Gasly finally showed Alpine's hand, at least partially, with the seventh quickest effort ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris - both British drivers fighting for pace in the Mercedes and McLaren.

READ MORE: Red Bull baffled by Verstappen FP1 issues as 'car jumping around a lot more than testing'

Close calls

Norris had a close call halfway into the hour when Nyck de Vries was released into his path from the AlphaTauri garage.

Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 10 for Alfa Romeo with the C43 again looking a settled machine.

Oscar Piastri ended the session 15th fastest but came close to a major collision, when juking around a slow-moving Stroll into turn one.

The situation was complicated by the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda being to Piastri's outside.

George Russell almost suffered a scare when a snap of oversteer over the kerb on the exit of turn seven threatened to throw the Mercedes off track.

The Briton would finish the session 13th.

Bahrain Grand Prix second practice results

1. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - 1:30.907

2. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.169secs

3. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.171s

4. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.460s

5. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +0.469s

6. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +0.543s

7. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +0.568s

8. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.636s

9. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.663s

10. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] - +0.679s

11. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +0.701s

12. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] - +0.886s

13. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.975s

14. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +1.049s

15. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +1.117s

16. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +1.203s

17. Alex Albon [Williams] - +1.533s

18. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] - +1.618s

19. Nyck de Vries [AlphaTauri] - +1.618s

20. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +1.698s

READ MORE: Perez puts Red Bull on top, Alonso sparks Aston Martin hope and Ferrari hit trouble

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