Charles Leclerc set the pace in second practice for Formula 1 at the Sepang International Circuit, but Max Verstappen remained the fastest driver of the day after his FP1 benchmark was just 0.008 seconds quicker than Leclerc’s best time.
Leclerc posted a 1:37.528 on the soft tyres to finish 0.099 seconds ahead of Isack Hadjar, while Lando Norris was another 0.137s behind the Ferrari driver. Verstappen, meanwhile, did not use the soft compound in FP2 and finished fourth on the mediums.
Verstappen had earlier recorded a 1:37.520 in FP1. The Red Bull driver’s lap was just 0.008s faster than Leclerc’s FP2 effort, leaving him with the quickest time across Friday’s running.
Track conditions provided one of the main challenges during FP2. Track temperatures were slightly above 61 degrees Celsius when the session began before dropping marginally as dark clouds gathered and the threat of heavy rain developed around the circuit.
The conditions forced drivers to complete their tyre warm-up laps at reduced speeds to avoid overheating before their push laps. The threat of rain also prompted several teams to accelerate their run plans and switch to the soft tyres earlier than expected.
After around 20 minutes, Verstappen remained at the top on the medium tyres with a 1:37.785. Oscar Piastri was around a tenth of a second behind, followed by George Russell and Leclerc.
Ferrari then began to show stronger pace as Lewis Hamilton moved to within half a tenth of Verstappen before Leclerc took over at the top by around a quarter of a second. Hamilton was subsequently placed under investigation by the stewards for allegedly impeding Gabriel Bortoleto, with an apparent issue involving the right-hand mirror of his SF-26 cited in the incident.
Norris later split Leclerc and Verstappen at the front before Hadjar switched to the soft tyres and moved into second place. Verstappen continued using the mediums throughout the session, leaving him fourth in FP2 but still fastest overall for the day.
Hamilton finished fifth, ahead of Piastri. Mercedes duo George Russell and championship leader Kimi Antonelli followed, both around half a second off Leclerc’s pace despite setting their best times on the medium tyres. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
At the other end of the order, Franco Colapinto finished last, almost six seconds off the leading time. Bortoleto then suffered an issue with two minutes remaining and came to a halt, reporting a suspected gearbox problem and triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
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