Fernando Alonso set the pace in Friday evening’s second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, slotting ahead of Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as Aston Martin continue to catch the eye ahead of the new F1 season.

After a baking hot mid-afternoon opening practice hour, the sun set and floodlights switched on over the Sakhir circuit for FP2 – bringing more representative conditions which will also be seen Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race.

Across two spells of qualifying-style runs, it was Alonso who charged to the top of the timesheets by clocking a 1m 30.907s on soft tyres, finishing 0.169s clear of reigning world champion Verstappen, with Perez 0.002s further back.