WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain
FIA World Endurance Championship
The WEC has established itself as one of the premier championships under the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the leading global series for endurance racing. It attracts countless stars in motorsport, and it continues to grow in popularity every year, with races taking place in eight countries across four continents.
View MoreAlonso sets pace for Aston Martin in F1 FP2
Alonso sets pace for Aston Martin in F1 FP2
Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the day in Formula 1 action this evening at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The Aston Martin ace shone bright under lights in the second practice session of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023, kicking off this year’s FIA F1 World Championship at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
Alonso was second quickest in the opening practice today but in the follow-up session went one better, with an ultra-quick lap time of one minute 30.907 seconds—faster than the 1:32.758 set by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez from the day’s earlier running.
Reigning double world champion Max Verstappen followed on the times 0.169 seconds behind, while Perez was third 0.171s back.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth on the classification 0.460s off Alonso’s pace, while the returning Nico Hulkenberg put Haas in fifth with a 0.469s gap from the top.
Lance Stroll impressed despite his recent injury to go sixth for Aston Martin 0.543s behind, while Pierre Gasly of Alpine came seventh 0.568s back and Lewis Hamilton was eighth 0.636s from first place.
Lando Norris (+0.663s) of McLaren and Zhou Guanyu (+0.679s) of Alfa Romeo rounded off the top 10 finishers.
Completing the second practice classification were Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, George Russell of Mercedes, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, Oscar Piastri of McLaren, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Alexander Albon of Williams, Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri, and Logan Sargeant of Williams.
F1 will be holding a third hour-long practice Saturday from 2.30pm. The first qualifying of the new F1 season then follows from 6pm, setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix.