Max Verstappen produced the most convincing long-run indications during Friday practice at Sepang, but the Bahrain Grand Prix race-pace picture remains remarkably open. Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all appeared closely matched, while unusual track conditions made the data particularly difficult to interpret.
Dust, different grip levels across resurfaced sections and a negatively banked final corner complicated the work of both drivers and engineers throughout FP1 and FP2. Before the teams can establish a clear competitive order, they first need to understand how much the circuit itself will change between Friday and race day.
Sepang surface creates unexpected problems for F1 teams
The opening day at Sepang introduced a variable that had been difficult to quantify before the weekend: the track surface itself.
Teams and drivers encountered more difficulties than expected, both in controlling their cars and in finding an effective setup. The asphalt played a major role in shaping the programmes completed across the two practice sessions.
The main problem became apparent as early as FP1. Sepang’s asphalt dates back to 2017 and several areas of the circuit have recently undergone work intended to reduce some of the bumps.
Organisers ground down a number of sections, but significant quantities of dust created during the process remained on the track. As more Formula 1 cars completed laps, conditions gradually improved, although the surface never became completely uniform.
The issue extended beyond simply having a dirty circuit. The ground sections, which were easy to identify because of their lighter colour, offered different grip characteristics compared with areas where the original asphalt remained.
That variation in adhesion made Sepang more difficult to read for the drivers and made the evolution of the circuit harder for teams to predict.
Negative banking adds another challenge at Sepang’s final corner
The revised configuration of the final corner added another complication. A modification introduced in 2022 created negative banking at the turn, making the braking phase particularly delicate.
Several drivers struggled at that point during Friday’s two sessions as they searched for the correct compromise between stability on corner entry and carrying sufficient speed through the turn.
It became another factor teams had to incorporate into their setup work on an already difficult day.
As a result, most teams concentrated primarily on race configurations. Detailed qualifying preparation was largely postponed until FP3, when the circuit should offer better and more representative conditions.
The remaining uncertainty is how much the track will continue to evolve and whether the setup conclusions reached on Friday will remain relevant later in the weekend.
Max Verstappen gives Red Bull the strongest long-run signal
The most significant information therefore came from the long runs. Once the figures are corrected for tyre age and the different lengths of each stint, Max Verstappen and Red Bull probably produced the strongest race-pace indications in FP2.
That tendency had already begun to emerge during the opening session, when Verstappen completed a meaningful sequence of laps using the Soft compound.
McLaren appeared to be the closest challenger, although the length of its stints made it impossible to establish conclusively how its pace would have developed beyond the ten-lap mark.
Even so, there was very little separating the leading teams. Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all operated within margins that were largely inside the natural variability of Friday’s data.
Charles Leclerc gives Ferrari encouraging Sepang long-run signs
Ferrari also produced encouraging numbers. Charles Leclerc’s lap times were highly competitive, although his long run was shorter than those completed by several direct rivals.
That makes a direct comparison difficult, particularly at a circuit where tyre degradation and temperature management could become increasingly important as a stint develops.
The behaviour of the tyres is particularly relevant to Ferrari after the team arrived at Sepang facing a very different challenge from Baku, with the Sepang tyre compounds and abrasive surface placing greater emphasis on long-run thermal management.
George Russell’s Mercedes pace improves as stint develops
Mercedes also completed an interesting race simulation. George Russell began his long run at a slightly slower pace, adopting a more gradual approach to tyre management.
As the stint developed, his pace stabilised in the mid-1:45 range. By the closing laps, Russell’s trend looked very similar to Verstappen’s, suggesting Mercedes remained firmly in the leading group despite its earlier concerns over tyre degradation.
Kimi Antonelli followed a different programme. After encountering traffic during a run that began on the Soft compound, the Italian switched to the Medium.
Soft and Medium show surprisingly similar behaviour
The comparison between compounds produced another interesting result. Over longer distances, the difference in behaviour between the Soft and Medium appeared relatively small.
That may have been influenced by the unusually low grip level on Friday. Once more rubber is laid onto the circuit, the competitive relationship between the compounds could change, altering both their outright performance and their degradation characteristics.
That uncertainty leaves strategy particularly difficult to predict before the final practice session. The Bahrain Grand Prix weekend at Sepang will therefore enter Saturday with teams still gathering important information about a circuit Formula 1 has not raced on under the current conditions.
Sepang race-pace order remains wide open
Friday at Sepang ultimately produced more questions than answers. Max Verstappen supplied the strongest race-pace signals, but the margins behind him remain extremely small.
More importantly, it is still difficult to establish how representative Friday’s numbers will be by Sunday. Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all showed enough pace to remain firmly involved in the fight, while Red Bull’s apparent advantage is not large enough to establish a clear hierarchy.
Before the teams can fully understand their cars, they must understand the circuit. The evolution of Sepang between Saturday and Sunday could become one of the decisive factors of the entire weekend.
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