Mercedes showed their true pace during second practice with Nico Rosberg topping the times with a 1:34.647, a tenth quicker than his team-mate Lewis Hamilton could manage.
Key Points from FP2:
– The cooler temperatures arrived with the sunset in Bahrain, giving a better representation of the conditions drivers will experience during qualifying and the race.
– Rosberg topped the screens with Hamilton second, split by just a tenth. The pair were however half a second quicker than the Ferraris in 3rd and 4th.
– Williams Valtteri Bottas wasn’t far behind, with 0.003 splitting the Finn and Sebastian Vettel.
– The top ten were covered by just over a second, representing one of the closest FP2’s this season so far.
– Jenson Button once again encountered trouble when his McLaren stopped on track after just five laps. The team did however manage to get him back out for another ten.
Manor’s Roberto Merhi was last, whilst team-mate Will Stevens leapfrogged the unreliable McLaren of Button.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:34.647 | 31 | |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.762 | 0.115 | 33 |
| 03 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:35.174 | 0.527 | 30 |
| 04 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:35.277 | 0.630 | 26 |
| 05 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:35.280 | 0.633 | 36 |
| 06 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:35.449 | 0.802 | 27 |
| 07 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:35.474 | 0.827 | 34 |
| 08 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:35.793 | 1.146 | 27 |
| 09 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:35.883 | 1.236 | 23 |
| 10 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:35.884 | 1.237 | 35 |
| 11 | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:36.148 | 1.501 | 34 |
| 12 | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:36.191 | 1.544 | 22 |
| 13 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:36.334 | 1.687 | 31 |
| 14 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:36.471 | 1.824 | 32 |
| 15 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:36.805 | 2.158 | 30 |
| 16 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:36.917 | 2.270 | 26 |
| 17 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:37.062 | 2.415 | 33 |
| 18 | W. Stevens | Marussia | 1:39.131 | 4.484 | 21 |
| 19 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:39.209 | 4.562 | 15 |
| 20 | R. Merhi | Marussia | 1:40.592 | 5.945 | 26 |
