Raikkonen fastest in Bahrain FP2 before late stoppage

Kimi Raikkonen led Ferrari to the top of the timesheets in second Formula 1 practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday night before being sidelined late in the session due to a loose wheel.

An eight-time podium finisher in Bahrain, Raikkonen threw his hat into the ring to fight at the sharp end of the field once again this weekend by turning in a fastest lap of 1:29.817 as Ferrari pulled half a second clear of chief rival Mercedes through FP2.

Vettel fell just 0.011 seconds shy of Raikkonen in the battle for P1, leaving Valtteri Bottas to settle for third place in the leading Mercedes, finishing 0.563s back from the leader. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was a further tenth of a second behind Bottas, losing some time after being held up at the final corner while on a hot lap.

The session did not go entirely to plan for Ferrari as Raikkonen was forced to park his car up at the side of the track at Turn 3 with 15 minutes to go after exiting the pit lane, seemingly due to his front-right wheel not being attached fully during a pit stop.

Race control confirmed that Raikkonen will be investigated after the session for his car being released in an unsafe condition.

Red Bull ran as the third-quickest team through second practice in Bahrain, with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo taking fifth and sixth respectively, nine-tenths of a second back from Raikkonen at the front.

Ricciardo almost had a coming together with Bottas while on his qualifying simulation, narrowly avoiding the Mercedes as he made a pass around the outside at Turn 4.

Nico Hulkenberg led the midfield runners for Renault, taking seventh ahead of Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who once again made it into the top 10 for the Honda-powered team in P8. Fernando Alonso wound up ninth for McLaren, with teammate Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 10.

Romain Grosjean took 11th for Haas ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. in the second Renault, while Force India drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez followed in 13th and 14th. Perez was fortunate to avoid contact with Grosjean after making a late move down the inside at Turn 1, with the Haas driver duking clear at the last second.

Kevin Magnussen took 15th for Haas ahead of Sauber's Charles Leclerc and Williams drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin. Marcus Ericsson was 19th for Sauber, with Brendon Hartley propping up the timesheets in P20 for Toro Rosso, three seconds back from Raikkonen's headline time.