Alonso beats Red Bulls in second Bahrain practice

Verstappen was second in practice but the pace of the Red Bull on longer runs appears to be the class of the field

Fernando Alonso pipped pre-season favourites Red Bull to set the pace in practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth and Lewis Hamilton the fastest Mercedes in eighth, 0.636secs off the pace.

Nico Hulkenberg's Haas, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly's Alpine filled the gaps ahead of Hamilton.

• How Friday's practice sessions unfolded
• What to look out for in the new Formula 1 season
• Chequered Flag podcast: 2023 F1 season preview
• How to follow Bahrain Grand Prix on BBC radio and online
• Meet the teams and drivers for 2023

McLaren's Lando Norris was ninth fastest ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu. Hamilton's team-mate George Russell was down in 13th and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz 14th after making an error on his fastest lap.

The race-simulation times later in the session, when teams run on heavy tanks to judge long-run pace, underlined why the paddock believes Red Bull are in a league of their own heading into the 2023 season.

Verstappen was fastest on these, comfortably ahead of Perez, and no-one else looked to be within a second a lap on average of the Dutchman's pace.

The session was relatively incident-free. McLaren's rookie driver Oscar Piastri had a big lock-up when he saw Stroll's Aston Martin in front of him late at the first corner, and Alonso abandoned a race run on the medium tyre when he locked up entering Turn 10.

The soft tyre was the preferred tyre for all drivers on the race runs, suggesting it will be used by most for the start of the race.

More to follow.

• Was it a mistake to sell off British Gas? Find out if the privatisation of the company could have had an impact on today's energy price crisis
• Scarlett Moffatt has opened her driving school! Can she help struggling learners pass their test?