Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fastest on Formula One’s return to Malaysia for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The sport is back at the Sepang International Circuit, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, after nine years away as the venue unusually plays host to the rearranged Bahrain GP – cancelled earlier this season because of the Middle East conflict.
Max Verstappen won the last time an F1 event was staged here in 2017 and the four-time world champion held the advantage in the opening running on Friday.
However, the Dutchman was dislodged by Leclerc later in the day, although the former failed to post a representative time on the speediest soft tyre compound.
Leclerc finished 0.099 seconds clear of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar, with world champion Lando Norris third for McLaren, 0.137secs back.
Verstappen finished fourth, two tenths off the pace – as he guarded against showing his true pace on the quickest tyres – and a spot clear of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton has been summoned to see the stewards after Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto accused the seven-time world champion of blocking him as he completed a quick lap.
Hamilton, who finished three tenths behind Leclerc in the other Ferrari, complained on the radio that he could not see through his right mirror.
Mercedes have brought a raft of new parts to Malaysia to mark their biggest upgrade since the Miami Grand Prix in May. In total, they have introduced seven upgrades, specifically to the floor and rear suspension and bodywork.
George Russell was second quickest in the opening practice session on Friday, but he finished seventh later in the day after he made a mistake at the final corner and was forced to abort his best lap.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who endured an off-colour weekend last time out in Azerbaijan to leave the title door ajar to Russell, was eighth.
He too made an error on his soft-tyre lap, running wide as he attempted to pass a backmarker, leaving him a distant eighth in the order.
Russell is 66 points behind Antonelli with eight scheduled rounds to go and a possible 208 points still available.
The final session began with a 90 per cent probability of rain hitting the track. However, the session passed by without bad weather affecting the order of play.
The one-hour running ended with a virtual safety car period after Bortoleto broke down in the closing moments.
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