Rosberg heads Hamilton and Button in FP2

© XPB 

Nico Rosberg was again quickest in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as McLaren showed encouraging pace.

With Mercedes having been over 1.8s clear of the field in the opening session, the gap remained over a second as Rosberg's time of 1:31.001 on the supersoft tyre saw him a quarter of a second clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and nearly 1.3s ahead of Jenson Button in third place.

Not only was Ferrari limited to fifth and sixth quickest behind Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso, Sebastian Vettel also lost out on some running as he was forced to stop on track. The German complained of a lack of power and pulled off at Turn 8, and when he inspected the car Vettel found the left rear tyre was not properly attached.

Vettel was 0.2s slower than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen during the session, but did make a mistake on his supersoft tyre lap which cost him the opportunity to improve his time, meaning his best lap was set on the softs.

Another Ferrari-powered team also found itself in trouble late in the session as Romain Grosjean suffered two problems in the Haas. Grosjean ran out on to the kerb exiting Turn 12 and his front wing appeared to fail, dropping at the front of the car and leaving some debris on the circuit. Haas also suffered a front wing failure on the first day of pre-season testing.

Grosjean was able to return to the pits and take on a new wing but his next run saw him forced to pit after smoke started emerging from the rear of his car exiting Turn 13.

With Button and Verstappen both in the top four, Red Bull and Williams both featured in the top ten in what was another close session Verstappen in fourth place was exactly one second faster than 15th-placed Sergio Perez.

Stoffel Vandoorne enjoyed a trouble-free second session and was 11th quickest in the second McLaren, 0.7s slower than team-mate Button. FP2 also saw encouraging signs for Manor with Pascal Wehrlein in 19th - ahead of both Saubers - and just 0.3s adrift of Jolyon Palmer's Renault despite not running the supersoft tyre.

AS IT HAPPENED: Bahrain Grand Prix FP2

FP1 REPORT: Rosberg fastest as Mercedes sets blistering pace

Romain Grosjean's exclusive F1i column - Bahrain

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PosDriverTeamTimeLaps
01Nico RosbergMercedes1:31.00138
02Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:31.24232
03Jenson ButtonMcLaren1:32.28132
04Max VerstappenToro Rosso1:32.40631
05Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1:32.45238
06Sebastian VettelFerrari1:32.65026
07Daniil KvyatRed Bull1:32.70334
08Valtteri BottasWilliams1:32.79239
09Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:32.87023
10Felipe MassaWilliams1:32.87336
11Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1:32.99930
12Esteban GutierrezHaas1:33.12931
13Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:33.17736
14Romain GrosjeanHaas1:33.38423
15Sergio PerezForce India1:33.40635
16Kevin MagnussenRenault1:33.44734
17Nico HulkenbergForce India1:33.57037
18Jolyon PalmerRenault1:33.64035
19Pascal WehrleinManor1:33.95321
20Marcus EricssonSauber1:34.22431
21Felipe NasrSauber1:34.47734
22Rio HaryantoManor1:34.56233